A Comparative Study of Surgical Training in South East Asia, Australia and The United Kingdom

Abstract

Quality of training can be improved by changing to a curriculum and competency based model, utilization of continuous assessment methods, reducing service requirements and better compensation for trainers. Southeast Asia has the potential to provide centres of excellence for surgical training. Surgical educators in SEA will find useful information in this paper to improve their programs which will hopefully evolve into a common core curriculum and enable cross border exchange of surgical trainees in SEA for broader exposure.

Evolving a common surgical curriculum for ASEAN nations with a public health approach

“…We have highly developed countries and island states like Singapore and Brunei with no rural population, contrasting with some countries with large rural populations struggling with poor infrastructure and communication networks. The colonial history of the countries is varied and this has resulted in widely different systems of medical training derived from the British, Dutch, French and American systems . Some countries like Malaysia have evolved its indigenous training system, although the colonial brand still exerts its subtle influence.…”

“…Some countries like Malaysia have evolved its indigenous training system, although the colonial brand still exerts its subtle influence. The directions are also very different . Some are geared towards the sub‐specialist training model as in the USA, some are hybrids where general surgery is still given the main emphasis and some are still struggling to provide basic primary care‐based surgery.…”

“…Some are geared towards the sub‐specialist training model as in the USA, some are hybrids where general surgery is still given the main emphasis and some are still struggling to provide basic primary care‐based surgery. The control mechanisms of training are also very different . Some are controlled entirely by the Government, some by the College of Surgeons, some by the universities and some by a body where all parties have a token representation.…”

“…The colonial history of the countries is varied and this has resulted in widely different systems of medical training derived from the British, Dutch, French and American systems. 2 Some countries like Malaysia have evolved its indigenous training system, although the colonial brand still exerts its subtle influence. The directions are also very different.…”

“…The directions are also very different. 2 Some are geared towards the sub-specialist training model as in the USA, some are hybrids where general surgery is still given the main emphasis and some are still struggling to provide basic primary care-based surgery. The control mechanisms of training are also very different.…”