A traveling fellowship to build surgical capacity in Ethiopia: the Jimma University specialized hospital and operation smile partnership

Abstract

A lack of trained providers is an important contributor to the unmet burden of surgical disease treatment in low- and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization’s Commission on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel lays out guiding principles for addressing this workforce crisis. However, for surgical subspecialties such as plastic surgery, in-country training opportunities remain limited and there is a clear need for effective strategies to retain providers and develop sustainable solutions. We report the design and early implementation of a traveling fellowship in plastic surgery for providers at Jimma University Specialized Hospital in Jimma, Ethiopia. This fellowship is supported by Operation Smile and its network of international surgical volunteers. Since its inception, the program has trained 2 general surgeons with a commitment to helping train a total of 6 surgeons to establish a self-sustaining service. Key innovations include multiple international sites to facilitate broad subspecialty training, commitment of participants to return to Jimma upon completion of the program to establish a local training service, and coordination with national governing bodies to ensure program recognition and support. Ongoing challenges include physical resource limitations and coordination with a wide array of stakeholders. Nongovernmental organizations also have a role to play in supporting the Ministries of Health in scaling up human resources for improved health within their countries. Operation Smile’s traveling fellowship demonstrates a feasible method of addressing the health workforce crisis by providing specialized training and facilitating the development of surgical teaching programs capable of sustainably serving local communities.