Dr. Sanford (Sandy) Ratner’s personal mission as an OMS has always been to improve the lives of others as a teacher and a surgeon. In his 35-year career, Dr. Ratner has touched hundreds of lives in his home state of California and many more during his numerous visits abroad each year.
“In 1999, I was invited to the University of Santo Tomas in Manila to help treat a 9-year-old Nepalese boy,” he says of his first humanitarian trip. “He had been unable to open his mouth since he fell at age 4.” Surgical reconstruction of the boy’s jaw mitigated the ankylosis, and Dr. Ratner was invited to deliver a lecture on facial fractures to 200 local doctors. The exhilaration of the experience inspired a lifetime of volunteerism.
Subsequent visits to the Philippines and Vietnam were followed by a solo trip to Nepal, where he worked with the only program-trained maxillofacial surgeon in that country. That collaboration fueled his desire to include his UCLA residents in these missions, facilitating the international exchange of knowledge and skill sets between faculty and residents from major hospitals.
“I realized that operating in less-fortunate countries is a privilege that should never be taken lightly,” Dr. Ratner says. “Our purpose is to provide knowledge, skills and instrumentation not available in the countries we visit.”
Dr. Ratner’s recent humanitarian itineraries have taken him to Nepal, the Philippines, Vietnam, Fiji, Indonesia, and Taipei. He said these missions “define my life as much as my home practice in Orange County, Calif.” There, he practices the full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery and serves as Chief of Dentistry/Oral Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Chief of the Oral Surgery section at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange. He also is on staff at UCLA School of Dentistry’s Department of OMS, dividing his time between research and residents, and is a faculty member at AO of North America.
Amidst these myriad responsibilities, he remains an engaged member of the OMS Foundation’s Committee on Humanitarian Programs, helping to oversee the Global Initiative for Volunteerism and Education. “GIVE exposes young surgeons to the joy I have experienced by traveling, teaching, and making new friends around the world,” Dr. Ratner says. “This Committee has put me in touch with like-minded surgeons while helping to link OMS residents with surgeons who are happy to teach and guide their education.”
GIVE provides travel stipends to residents serving with OMS-led international humanitarian healthcare teams. Residents and host programs are invited to apply year-round. Reflecting on the feedback of residents who have traveled on GIVE excursions, Dr. Ratner said, “when people tell me that my efforts are selfless, I smile because I know that I have received so much more than I have given.”