Dr. Pascotto and his team members work hard in the Dominican Republic on the heart to heart mission to save lives. They can however only take three mission trips a year. The rest of the year cardiac surgery at this time just has to wait again for their arrival.

On this journey we've met some very special residents in Santiago who have a dream. Their vision is just like Dr. Pascotto's, only it does not involve traveling nearly 1000 miles to help others. Their dream involves helping people in their own country. "As you've noticed in the hallways there's medical students and residents here and this is their first opportunity for them to see cardiac surgeries and to see how it's done."

Dr. Pascotto says that the goal is not just to come into town - mend a few hearts and then leave; the goal is to plant the seed. The seed that will eventually grow into a self-sustaining open-heart program. That goal is well underway. "There are now a couple of individuals who want to become cardiac surgeons and return to Santiago and complete the work that I've started there."

One of those individuals is Juan Larue --- because of these missions and his involvement with them first as a medical student and translator, he's been accepted for a residency program in the United States. "I want to be a cardiac surgeon. I was blessed and lucky enough to have a team come to the hospital where I was working at, being able to work with them."

And Juan is not the only one. Nurse Joan says this is Cathy, we call her little Cathy. She used to be a med student but now she's little Dr. Cathy. And Dr. Cathy helps a lot in the OR and she is now going to be the first female cardiac surgeon in Santiago. (Thank you Joan)..

Dominican Resident Sarah Castillo "I got to work in the OR so they let me scrub in and everything. I get to suture everything, which I like because I want to be a surgeon."

Marie Laurence Noisette says, "Oh, I'm learning a lot. I'm learning a lot. The treatment of the patient, the way they treat the patient."

The initial goal is to take care of patients but the ultimate goal is for them, them meaning the medical professional residents, to be able to one day proudly take care of their own people.

If you would like more information you can visit www.heartmission.com.