Juarez M. Avelar

2013

Upon my graduation from medical school in 1968, I made an unusual decision to work in the Amazon jungle for 1 year as a volunteer physician to help poor people and indians in small villages. Among the patients who used to come to see me during my time there, those with physical deformities touched my heart and my soul because I was not quali fi ed to operate on them. I had the opportunity to see three young patients with severe auricular deformities that broke my heart.