MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – As terrorized families are fleeing northern Iraq and ISIS violence, a South Florida surgeon is preparing to go in.
Dr. Glenn Miller, a trauma surgeon at Kendall Regional Medical Center, is scheduled to embark on a two-week mission to Mosul on Dec. 17.
"This has always been a dream of mine professionally to give back," Miller said. "I'm not sure now what I'll see when I go there."
Miller expects that he will be treating people and training Kurdish military and medical personnel in difficult circumstances and with limited resources. He also expects the unexpected, for which he is well-trained from working in a South Florida trauma center.
"My barometer for what is horrible or difficult to deal with is a little bit different than most people. Do I worry about something happening? Sure," Miller said. "But the group seems like they are very intent on security."
The group is Washington, D.C.-based Global Surgical and Medical Support Group, whose missions inspired Miller to go.
The scheduling means Miller is spending the holidays away from his wife and three children, and this year will be his 5-month-old's first Christmas.
Miller's wife, Martha, who is a surgical intensive care nurse, shares her husband's passion and purpose. He said she is the one who gave him permission to go.
"He loves the trauma. It's like he's giving life to these people who are hopeless, they are dying," Martha Miller said. "I'm very happy. I'm very proud of him."
Glenn Miller credits his colleagues at Kendall Regional for being supportive of the mission. He said the medical center's six other trauma surgeons will be covering his shifts there while he is gone.