Personalized Graduate Medical Education and the Global Surgeon

Training for Resource-Limited Settings

Bibliographic Data

ID21613069
AuthorsRachel W Davis (Baylor College of Medicine, corresponding author), Youmna A Sherif (0000-0003-1748-6978, Baylor College of Medicine), Megan Thuy Vu (0000-0002-7697-7999, Baylor College of Medicine), Holly Shilstone (Baylor College of Medicine), Holly C Shilstone (Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center), Bradford Scott (Baylor College of Medicine), Bradford G Scott (Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center), Oluyinka O Olutoye (0000-0003-1619-3970, O.O. Olutoyeis professor of pediatric surgery, Department of Surgery, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and surgeon-in-chief, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio.), Larry Hollier (L. Hollier Jris professor of surgery and chief, Division of Plastic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, and surgeon-in-chief, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas.), Larry H Hollier (0000-0002-9810-9578, Baylor College of Medicine), Jed Nuchtern (J. Nuchternis professor of pediatric surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, and Chief of Global Surgery, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas.), Jed G Nuchtern (0000-0002-5195-1661, Baylor College of Medicine), Todd K Rosengart (Baylor College of Medicine)
Year2021
Volume96
Issue3
Pages384-389
Publication date2021-03-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAcademic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1040-2446 • E-ISSN: 1938-808X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/acm.0000000000003898
PMID33332906
OpenAlexW3117627829
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited4

PROBLEM: The World Health Organization and the World Bank have identified improvement in access to surgical care as an urgent global health challenge and a cost-effective investment in public health. However, trainees in standard U.S. general surgery programs do not have adequate exposure to the procedures, technical skills, and foundational knowledge essential for providing surgical care in resource-limited settings. APPROACH: The Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) created a 7-year global surgery track within its general surgery residency in 2014. Individualized rotations equip residents with the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to operate in regions with low surgeon density and develop sustainable surgical infrastructures. BCM provides a formal, integrated global surgery curriculum-including 2 years dedicated to global surgery-with surgical specialty rotations in domestic and international settings. Residents tailor their individual experience to the needs of their future clinical practice, region of interest, and surgical specialty. OUTCOMES: There have been 4 major outcomes of the BCM global surgery track: (1) increased exposure for trainees to a broad range of surgeries critical in resource-limited settings, (2) meaningful international partnerships, (3) contributions to global surgery scholarship, and (4) establishment of sustainable global surgery activities. NEXT STEPS: To better facilitate access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical care worldwide, global surgeons should pursue expertise in topics not currently included in U.S. general surgical curricula, such as setting-specific technical skills, capacity building, and organizational collaboration. Future evaluations of the BCM global surgery track will assess the effect of individualized education on trainees' professional identities, clinical practices, academic pursuits, global surgery leadership preparedness, and comfort with technical skills not encompassed in general surgery programs. Increasing availability of quality global surgery training programs would provide a critical next step toward contributing to the delivery of safe surgical care worldwide

Accreditation · Geography · Graduate medical education · Medical education · MEDLINE · Political science · Computer Science · Global Health and Surgery · Global Health Workforce Issues · Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism · Medicine

Tools

Open DOI