The Open Heart International Team from Australia is on their final day of performing life-saving operations on Papua New Guineans requiring heart surgery. The team consisting of 8 specialist individuals, which are one Surgeon, Dr Jayme Bennet, one Anaesthetist, Dr Stewart Anderson, one Intensivist, Dr Lewis McLean, one Perfusionist, Dr Ragu Nathan, three Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses, Samantha Willis, Megan Ruttley and Kassandra Long, and one Theatre nurse, Joanne Ferrier touched down on Port Moresby’s Jackson’s International Airport on Thursday, June 20th. The team began performing surgeries at the Port Moresby General Hospital on Friday, June 21st alongside PMGH local heart specialist team. Dr Bennett who spoke on behalf of his colleagues stated that they may be performing surgery on more than 20 individuals. "Depending on whoever is ready for surgery, we're looking at operating on 26 to 27 patients." Six adult patients were confirmed to undergo surgery. Over the last 30 years, OHI has come in large numbers from 50-60 specialists for open-heart surgeries. However, in 2023, the visiting OHI team was reduced to eight members due to the emphasis shifting from service delivery to training which has resulted in PNG gaining many trained cardiac specialists as follows; 2 surgeons Dr. Noah Tapaua (cardiacthoracic surgeon) and Dr. Elizabeth Alok the (first female cardiac thoracic surgeon) 1 Cardiac Anesthetist Dr. Arvin Karu, 2 perfusionists Mr. Alex Tipiso (Goroka based) and Mr. Norman Kambo (Marshall Island based), 6 cardiac nurses are; 4 ICU nurses are Sr. Jean Boie, Sr. Loha Erehe, Sr. Ingrid Aigoma and Sr. Fatima Jerome, and 2 Theatre nurses are; Sr. Ubuna Dat and Sr. Jacklyn Eric. PNG still needs more trained local cardiac specialists, to meet the need of the cardiac congenital heart defects and rheumatic heart diseases/coronary heart diseases.