Education & Training

Operation Smile’s one-week surgical programs have become a hallmark of the organization. Training and mentoring have naturally occurred between medical volunteers who travel to provide cleft care in underserved areas of the world. Looking ahead, Operation Smile will turn these exchanges into specialized cleft training experiences to ensure an even greater impact.

Training programs are essential to address the systemic challenges that have created a backlog of patients waiting to receive safe, timely, and affordable surgical care. A new decade of love & leadership launches an expanded set of cleft training programs across surgery and other specialties. Training programs are designed to enhance the skills of medical providers, and to create new providers in areas with limited human resources for health.

Operation Smile’s volunteer base of over 6,000 medical volunteers from around the world will be further engaged in education, research, and university partnerships. Our medical volunteers are our greatest legacy and represent our capacity to provide education across ten specialties, including surgery, anesthesia, nursing, dental care, and more.

Amongst the many initiatives being developed, Operation Smile is proud to have launched: