Thank You, Shanghai Doctors! 18-Year-Old Cleft Lip and Palate Patient Admitted to Tibet University School of Medicine

On July 24, the eastern campus of Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital opened a dedicated green channel for charitable surgery, where a team led by Cai Ming, chief physician of the Department of Oral and Craniomaxillofacial Surgery, performed free sequential cleft lip and palate repair surgeries for five children from Tibet. The effort was supported by two charitable funds: palate surgery for two young children was carried out under the Shanghai Children's Health Foundation's first nationwide public welfare fund for the whole-process management of craniomaxillofacial deformity diagnosis and treatment, while second-stage repair surgery for three other children was supported by Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital's Bethel Fund. The five operations were performed by Cai Ming and Wu Yilai.

Among them, 18-year-old Tibetan girl Ba Pian completed palate repair through the same series of public welfare programs in 2024 and has now been admitted to the School of Medicine of Tibet University, determined to become an obstetrician and gynecologist serving her hometown. Twins Dunzhu Ciren and Dunzhu Zhuoma share an "eight-year appointment" with Cai Ming: he performed their initial cleft lip repairs during a medical outreach mission to Tibet in 2018 and has continued to guide their recovery by video over the eight years since.