Developing surgical training programs and capacity becomes increasingly important as many countries are explore strategies in training physicians and non-physicians to perform surgical procedures in order to address workforce shortages and improve access to surgical services in resource-limited settings. As new surgical training programs are developed and implemented, careful consideration of local priorities will be crucial to creating innovative and sustainable solutions.

“A goal-oriented curriculum should be drawn up to focus on a) common/regular diseases; b) diseases that are uncommon but have severe consequences; c) rare diseases. [... It’s] important to emphasize here that trauma and rural surgery are important aspects in many resource-limited settings.” writes expert panelist Dr. Emmaneul Ameh, Professor of Surgery at the Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Nigeria and Consultant Paediatric Surgeon to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital.

From February 6th-10th, our panelists will discuss surgical training and address the following key questions:

• How to implement contextually appropriate surgical training programs?
• How to ensure local training needs are prioritized above expatriate training needs?
• What are the challenges of providing surgical training for non-physicians?
• How to create incentives for clinicians to train in surgery?
• How to generate and sustain political commitment to surgical training?

Our panelists include:

• Emmanuel Ameh, MBBS, FWACS, FACS; Ahmadu Bello University & Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital
• Eric Borgstein, MD; University of Malawi, School of Medicine
• David Spiegel, MD; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

We hope you’ll join us for this discussion and share your own thoughts on these important issues. Please visit the Global Surgery and Anesthesia community to participate in this Expert Panel discussion!