Doctors Making a Difference: Wayne Larrabee, MD

Even before he started medical school, Wayne Larrabee, MD, knew he wanted to make a difference on a global scale. After working in public health as an epidemiologist in Central and South America, his experience in Panama observing children suffering from congenital abnormalities including cleft lip and palate led him to the second phase of his career in plastic surgery. Dr. Larrabee talked with WSMA Reports about his nonprofit organization, Global Surgical Outreach, which is providing volunteer-led cleft lip and palate surgeries to children in Africa and investing in infrastructure and training support.

WSMA Reports: How did you first get involved with volunteer surgical work?

Dr. Larrabee: I went into medicine with the dream of working in global health. I chose Tulane Medical School because it had a strong school of public health and tropical medicine, and I graduated with an MD and a master’s degree in epidemiology. After my internship in the U.S. Army at Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco, I was assigned as the director of civic action and public health for the Southern Command and was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. A highlight was my work with the Kuna people of the San Blas Islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama. They were a small but charismatic group that lived off the Atlantic coast. Because of their size and culture, they married only amongst themselves and there were many babies with congenital deformities including cleft lips and palates. I was fortunate to encounter Daniel Gruver, a missionary who did surgery to repair these children’s clefts. I immediately fell in love with plastic surgery and decided to become a surgeon.

After my surgical training I moved to Seattle and worked first at Virginia Mason Medical Center and later launched my own practice, The Larrabee Center for Facial Plastic Surgery. From the beginning, I participated in cleft missions to Latin America, Asia, and, later, Africa. I decided to start Global Surgical Outreach to provide not only surgery but needed education and infrastructure.

You went to Ethiopia in 2024; can you tell readers a little bit about that trip and the patients you served?

We have been to Ethiopia many times before. We love the country and its people. The surgeons there are excellent but lack certain equipment for more complex cases. In terms of clefts, they requested education in cleft lip noses specifically. On this mission we focused on treating cleft lip and palate patients who also needed nose repairs. I was fortunate to have Susan Kurian, MD, from the Larrabee Center along to assist me with operating and teaching. She did an excellent job. Cristal Flores from our surgical center also came to assist and teach her peers in Ethiopia.

Why did the organization decide to build a hospital in Accra, Ghana, and who will it serve?

We are working with Kofi Boahene, MD, from Johns Hopkins to support building a teaching hospital in Ghana. The basic concept is that we can more effectively train surgeons in Africa with an African center. The hospital will be partially staffed with volunteer plastic surgeons from around the globe. I hope to work there myself. We will also of course repair clefts and more for African children, but training the African surgeons can eventually help many more.

Is there an aspect of your volunteer missions that is particularly fulfilling for you?

There are so many, including the lifelong friendships you develop. By far the most fulfilling, however, is watching the faces of the parents when they first see their child after a cleft lip repair. It is truly magical to share their joy.

This article was featured in the September/October 2025 issue of WSMA Reports, WSMA’s print magazine.