Arrowhead Regional Medical Center doctor travels the world to promote cancer prevention
Dr. Ramon M. Cestero has spent much of his medical career visiting cities and villages in Central America to spread the word about cervical cancer prevention to women and physicians.
This month, Cestero, a physician at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, flew to Nicaragua for a five-day cervical cancer-prevention course, where he provided training to doctors at a busy hospital in the city of Managua.
In addition to the clinical education, he and the doctors he trained provided cancer-prevention services to hundreds of local women who would normally not receive the intervention.
"It is always hard work. But it gives me a good feeling because I feel I have made a huge difference in the lives of many women currently at risk for cervical cancer," said Cestero, who recently returned from the Central America trip.
This month, Cestero, a physician at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, flew to Nicaragua for a five-day cervical cancer-prevention course, where he provided training to doctors at a busy hospital in the city of Managua.
In addition to the clinical education, he and the doctors he trained provided cancer-prevention services to hundreds of local women who would normally not receive the intervention.
"It is always hard work. But it gives me a good feeling because I feel I have made a huge difference in the lives of many women currently at risk for cervical cancer," said Cestero, who recently returned from the Central America trip.
His work in that part of the world and close to
home has become increasingly important, based on recent statistics.
This year, 500,000 women worldwide learned they have invasive cervical cancer and half of them will die from the disease, he said.
Cestero, who received much of his medical training in Puerto Rico and has worked there as well as at several hospitals in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, now wears different hats at the county hospital in Colton.
Among them are attending physician, teaching faculty in the department of women's health and director of colposcopy services.
Colposcopy is a follow-up for abnormal Pap smears. Its main goal is to prevent cervical cancer early on by detecting precancerous lesions and treating them.
When Cestero started his gynecology practice, he primarily delivered babies. Several mentors influenced him to specialize in cervical cancer prevention.
And by the 1970s he was a member of the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology.
During the decade he has been at Arrowhead Regional, he has taken several humanitarian trips to Peru to teach local physicians how to care for women there and provide medical care to poverty-stricken women in outlying villages.
Thousands of women of all ages, many of whom arrive carrying babies on their backs, have received the medical services over the years.
Cestero, who gets much support from Arrowhead Regional for his efforts, is always happy to give back.
"It is wonderful to help these people who are isolated and underserved," he said.
Cestero went to Nicaragua April 17-21 in response to a request from doctors in Managua to come down and train them in cervical cancer prevention.
At the Bertha Calderon Hospital, the primary referral hospital for women in Nicaragua, he provided the physicians with extensive training in detection and prevention.
And on the last two days he directed the doctors on how to care for women who had abnormal pap smears.
"We accomplished what we went there to do," he said, "and I would love to return."
deborah.pfeiffer@inlandnewspapers.com
This year, 500,000 women worldwide learned they have invasive cervical cancer and half of them will die from the disease, he said.
Cestero, who received much of his medical training in Puerto Rico and has worked there as well as at several hospitals in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, now wears different hats at the county hospital in Colton.
Among them are attending physician, teaching faculty in the department of women's health and director of colposcopy services.
Colposcopy is a follow-up for abnormal Pap smears. Its main goal is to prevent cervical cancer early on by detecting precancerous lesions and treating them.
When Cestero started his gynecology practice, he primarily delivered babies. Several mentors influenced him to specialize in cervical cancer prevention.
And by the 1970s he was a member of the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology.
During the decade he has been at Arrowhead Regional, he has taken several humanitarian trips to Peru to teach local physicians how to care for women there and provide medical care to poverty-stricken women in outlying villages.
Thousands of women of all ages, many of whom arrive carrying babies on their backs, have received the medical services over the years.
Cestero, who gets much support from Arrowhead Regional for his efforts, is always happy to give back.
"It is wonderful to help these people who are isolated and underserved," he said.
Cestero went to Nicaragua April 17-21 in response to a request from doctors in Managua to come down and train them in cervical cancer prevention.
At the Bertha Calderon Hospital, the primary referral hospital for women in Nicaragua, he provided the physicians with extensive training in detection and prevention.
And on the last two days he directed the doctors on how to care for women who had abnormal pap smears.
"We accomplished what we went there to do," he said, "and I would love to return."
deborah.pfeiffer@inlandnewspapers.com
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