Please support the International Federation of Surgical Colleges.
The situation with regard to surgical education and training in sub-Saharan Africa (s-SA) for both qualified doctors and Non Clinician Physicians (NCPs), i.e. not medically qualified, is desperate.
1. In developing countries the majority of trained surgeons (80%) work in the cities and large towns whereas 80% of the population live in the rural areas. Hence the need to train NCP’s in emergency surgery who live, work and are prepared to stay in their home environment. We are therefore developing a specially designed surgical training Course for NCPs which we hope to pilot in Ifakara, Tanzania in 2018. If successful the Course model, suitably adapted to local needs, could then be utilised elsewhere in the developing world.
2. All our Courses involve a “Training the Trainer and Leadership ” element to ensure sustainability. Following ratification of the World Health Assembly Resolution, 68.15 “Strengthening Emergency and Essential Surgical Care and Anaesthesia as an integral component of Universal Health Coverage”, two years ago in 2015, there still remains a great need to upscale surgical education and training to dramatically increase the capacity of those undertaking surgery in s-SA. The IFSC is keen to support such endeavours.
3. There is enormous scope for research into the burden of surgical disease in developing countries. Such research is desperately lacking in sub-Saharan Africa. We designed a Research Skills Course which is proving a great success and we look forward to developing it during 2018.
Supporting the above programmes will greatly help to save lives in Africa.