James, professor and chief of pediatric orthopaedic surgery in the UC Davis School of Medicine, was one of seven physicians acknowledged for having served a combined total of more than 4,600 hours at various HVO program sites around the world. James also serves as the chief of orthopaedic surgery at Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California.
James initiated a program in pediatric hand surgery in Managua, Nicaragua, in 2009 and has served as the site director since then, returning regularly to work with surgeons and patients there. Until her involvement, the hospital had been unable to manage the simplest pediatric orthopaedic hand conditions.
The organization praised James for giving her time, instruments as well as invaluable educational opportunities to surgeons in Nicaragua, including lecturing, teaching diagnostic skills and intraoperative techniques. James also sponsored a five-week opportunity for a Nicaraguan surgeon to visit Sacramento and observe pediatric orthopaedic hand surgery and develop expertise in this area.
UC Davis Medical Center is a comprehensive academic medical center where clinical practice, teaching and research converge to advance human health. Centers of excellence include the National Cancer Institute-designated UC Davis Cancer Center; the region's only level 1 pediatric and adult trauma centers; the UC Davis MIND Institute, devoted to finding treatments and cures for neurodevelopmental disorders; and the UC Davis Children's Hospital. The medical center serves a 33-county, 65,000-square-mile area that stretches north to the Oregon border and east to Nevada. It further extends its reach through the award-winning telemedicine program, which gives remote, medically underserved communities throughout California unprecedented access to specialty and subspecialty care. For more information, visit medicalcenter.ucdavis.edu.