The Mobile Surgical Unit is a 22 foot Isuzu truck with a full operating room in the back.

Many general, gynecological, and urological surgeries are performed in the mobile unit by the Cinterandes surgical team.

They generally operate in Cuenca on Tuesdays, in the surrounding area on Thursdays, and take 3-5 day trips about once a month to various destinations. These destinations include trips into the high Andes:

To the rainforest:

And to the coast:


On these trips surgeries are performed on people who, due to geographical or economic reasons, cannot access surgical facilities in an urban hospital. The mobile unit and the Cinterandes team, along with the students in the program, are welcomed into many remote areas of Ecuador where there are people in need of surgery.

The team works in unison with healthcare workers in local clinics to have a complete history and pre-surgical work-up done before the scheduled date of surgery, often traveling to the area the month prior to the planned trip to perform these duties.