WORCESTER, Mass. — Thousands of miles from the city of Worcester, a team of doctors and nurses from Saint Vincent Hospital changed lives.

Dr. Paul Arcand is one of those doctors who spent a week in Guatemala providing free surgeries and medical care to people in need.

“It’s what I went into medicine for,” he said. “I went in to give and here I’m giving and not receiving.”

The medical mission is organized by Surgicorp International. In August, Dr. Arcand and his colleagues joined a team of doctors from across the country performing more than 130 surgeries.

“You can’t do things that are too complicated because there’s no ICU. There’s not a lot of advanced care, even the recovery rooms are big wards and people stay in open wards with open doors,” Dr. Arcand said. “There’s rooms with like 20 patients in a room.”

The general surgeon says he mostly operated on gallbladders and hernias, nothing the level of care is much different than the United States. He said low-income patients traveled as far as six hours to receive much-needed medical attention.

“Those people, without this, without people going down, would just be suffering,” he said. “It’s incredible how people with gallbladder problems wait years before they can have this done or hernias that bother them for 10 years before they’re finally able to get it done.”

Using an interpreter to talk to families, Dr. Arcand said it’s remarkable to hear how much these minor procedures will improve a patient’s quality of life.

“The people are just so overwhelmed with gratitude,” he said. “I make rounds before I start in the OR, so I go and see all the patients I operated on the day before and people are just so appreciative.”

Dr. Arcand, who has nearly 30 years of experience at Saint Vincent Hospital said this type of help and service gives the job a whole new meaning.

“My father was a physician, so I always saw that as something good and productive and being a good person. So, I went into to medicine because I thought I could really make a difference just like he did and it just feels a little different than what I do every day,” he said. “Every day I think that I did and I do my best for everyone but it just feels different in my heart.”