Volunteer doctors provide care to plateau's remote residents

For six days, a group of 32 doctors from China Medical Volunteers provided nearly 3,000 patients with free medical consultations and conducted 26 surgeries on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

During this healthcare campaign, the doctors trekked more than 1,000 kilometers at an average altitude of over 4,000 meters.

"It is a totally different working environment, and adequate communication with the patients is of great importance, as every detail matters," says Ling Feng, head of the volunteer team, who is also the chief neurosurgeon at Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, in Beijing.

Ling's team began its medical care campaign in Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Northwest China's Qinghai province, on Aug 6, with the first stop being Yushu's Nangqian county.

Nyzhong, 55, who is from Baizha village, underwent knee replacement surgery that day. For years, Nyzhong only relied on medicines and acupuncture, which didn't help much in alleviating her pain.

After a thorough evaluation and preoperative preparation, the volunteer surgeons spent two hours performing the knee operation, bringing relief to Nyzhong from the pain that had plagued her for over two decades.

"Hip and knee joint problems are prevalent among the elderly in high altitude areas where local residents need to crouch or even kneel to milk cows," says Ma Liwu, a volunteer doctor, who is also the chief orthopedic physician at Xuzhou No 1 People's Hospital.