Our Volunteers
300+ Volunteers
More than three hundred medical volunteers from leading U.S. children’s heart centers have traveled to Russia and Latin America with Heart to Heart since 1989. Most of them choose to travel and volunteer with us many times! One dedicated volunteer describes her work with Heart to Heart as “the highest and best use” of her time and expertise.
250+ Teaching and Training Hours
Over two hundred and fifty teaching and training hours are donated by our expert medical volunteers during each surgical educational mission. Our teaching involves a progressive overview of pediatric cardiac medicine in a classroom setting where learners benefit from presentations tailored for their team. Our hands-on training allows each learner to apply new knowledge under the supervision of one of our highly-experienced specialists.
Volunteer Spotlights
FRANK CETTA, MD
Dr. Frank Cetta is a bona fide Heart to Heartnik! His dedication to our mission and organization has taken him on more than 15 trips with us, from Kaliningrad and Tomsk, to Lima and San Jose! Dr. Cetta is a congenital cardiologist extraordinaire at his home institution, Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN. Read more about him here.
ERIC EGGLER, RN
Eric Eggler has served on four Heart to Heart cardiac training missions, most recently joining us in San Jose, Costa Rica! Eric works as a PCICU nurse year-round at the Mayo Clinic. He is pictured above with Costa Rican pediatric ICU doctors. Read more about Heart to Heart’s work in Costa Rica here.
KAVITHA PUNDI, MD
Dr. Kavitha Pundi (front row) is a pediatric cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Pundi is an enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer and has joined Heart to Heart on four surgical-educational missions to Russia and Latin America. Read more about Dr. Pundi here.
Volunteer Commitment
Heart to Heart is a volunteer-driven humanitarian organization. Without our volunteers, we would not have been able to develop self-sustaining pediatric heart programs – programs which have gone on to save the lives of nearly 35,000 children without ongoing assistance from specialists abroad. For over 30 years, hundreds of volunteers have supported us with their faith, kindness, and hard work.
Our medical volunteers, all highly experienced and actively practicing cardiac specialists, return to our partner sites year after year – working with compassion and respect for our colleagues and patients. Our volunteers are driven to help because they can see for themselves the incredible positive impact their work has when they contribute their time, teaching, and cardiac expertise within the framework of Heart to Heart’s program model. Many of them have made a long-term commitment to travel annually to a specific partner site until it reaches self-sustainability. Our medical volunteers provide year-round data analysis and support from the U.S., including patient consultations. They also host Russian and Latin American colleagues at renowned U.S. centers so that they can gain firsthand exposure to world-class children’s heart programs. Additionally, administrative volunteers support their work and document Heart to Heart’s progress.
Your donation helps our teams to provide free cardiac care to children waiting for heart surgery.