Development of a Novel Global Surgery Course for Medical Schools

Anderson, Geoffrey A.; Albutt, Katherine; Holmer, Hampus; Muguti, Godfrey; Mbuwayesango, Bothwell; Muchuweti, David; Gidiri, Muchabayiwa Francis; Mugapathyay, Swagoto; Iverson, Katie; Roa, Lina; Sharma, Sumeet K.; Jeppson, Bengt; Jönsson, Karin; Lantz, Adam; Saluja, Saurabh; Lin, Yihan; Citron, Isabelle; Meara, John G.; Hagander, Lars

doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2018.07.026

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…[20,21] Among the few global surgery opportunities in the global surgery course developed by Lund University, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Zimbabwe. [22] This course is run for five weeks, and it combines theory and practice in a low resource setting. Another opportunity is the research associate fellowships offered by the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of Cameroonian medical students towards global surgery: A web-based survey

Kanmounye¹,

Mbonda

Djiofack³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Introduction Global surgery is a growing field studying the determinants of safe and affordable surgical care and advocating to gain the global health community's attention. In Cameroon, little is known about the level of knowledge and attitudes of students. Our survey aimed to describe the knowledge and attitudes of Cameroonian medical students towards global surgery. Materials and methods We performed an anonymous online survey of final-year Cameroonian medical students. Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation analysis were used for bivariate analysis, and the alpha value was set at 0.05. Odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results 204 respondents with a mean age of 24.7 years (±2.0) participated in this study. 58.3% were male, 41.6% had previously heard or read about global surgery, 36.3% had taken part in a global surgery study, and 10.8% had attended a global surgery event. Mercy Ships was well known (46.5%), and most students believed that surgical interventions were more costly than medical treatments (75.0%). The mean score of the global surgery evaluation was 47.4% (±29.6%), and being able to recognize more global surgery organizations was correlated with having assumed multiple roles during global surgery studies (p = 0.008) and identifying more global surgery indicators (p = 0.04). Workforce, infrastructure, and funding were highlighted as the top priorities for the development of global surgery in Cameroon.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of Cameroonian medical students towards global surgery: A web-based survey

Kanmounye¹,

Mbonda

Djiofack³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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“…Many reports have shown that collaborative efforts between HIC and LMIC surgical programs have the potential to educate and benefit learners in both settings [4,[6][7][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. There is a growing interest among trainees in HICs for education opportunities in global surgery.…”

Section: Educational Initiatives In Global Surgerymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous reports of academic classes specific to global surgery are limited, with most experiences describing short-term (days to weeks) courses taught in high-income countries (HICs) designed for clinical learners in those settings. Several clinical training programs in North America have described formalized clinical surgical rotations with partner institutions in LMICs [6], while others have integrated a short-term didactic curriculum to prepare medical students for a surgical rotation in a LMIC [7,8]. Several North American surgical residency programs are beginning to offer a global surgery tract to prepare residents for a career in global surgery [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an Interactive Global Surgery Course for Interdisciplinary Learners

Fitzgerald

Muma

Gallis³

et al. 2021

Annals of Global Health

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Introduction: Global surgical care is increasingly recognized in the global health agenda and requires multidisciplinary engagement. Despite high interest among medical students, residents and other learners, many surgical faculty and health experts remain uniformed about global surgical care. Methods:We have operated an interdisciplinary graduate-level course in Global Surgical Care based on didactics and interactive group learning. Students completed a pre-and post-course survey regarding their learning experiences and results were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.Results: Fourteen students completed the pre-course survey, and 11 completed the post-course survey. Eleven students (79%) were enrolled in a Master's degree program in global health, with eight students (57%) planning to attend medical school. The median ranking of surgery on the global health agenda was fifth at the beginning of the course and third at the conclusion (p = 0.11). Non-infectious disease priorities tended to stay the same or increase in rank from pre-to post-course. Infectious disease priorities tended to decrease in rank (HIV/AIDS, p = 0.07; malaria, p = 0.02; neglected infectious disease, p = 0.3). Students reported that their understanding of global health (p = 0.03), global surgery (p = 0.001) and challenges faced by the underserved (p = 0.03) improved during the course. When asked if surgery was an indispensable part of healthcare, before the course 64% of students strongly agreed, while after the course 91% of students strongly agreed (p = 0.3). Students reported that the interactive nature of the course strengthened their skills in collaborative problem-solving. Conclusions:We describe an interdisciplinary global surgery course that integrates didactics with team-based projects. Students appeared to learn core topics and held a different view of global surgery after the course. Similar courses in global surgery can educate clinicians and other stakeholders about strategies for building healthy surgical systems worldwide.

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“…The global burden of disease, travellers’ medicine and immigrant health have been stated as key elements of global health (GH) education in medical school [ 5 ], but global health is more than that, being”the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide” [ 6 ]. To date, there is no consensus on how to teach students global health, and limited knowledge about the value and impact of existing courses [ 7 – 10 ]. A nation-wide study of final-year medical students in Sweden reported lack of knowledge and skills regarding global health [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is therefore a call for education in global surgery. In Sweden, two specific courses in global surgery for medical students exist; one at the Karolinska Institutet (KI) and one at Lund University [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global surgery for medical students – is it meaningful? A mixed-method study

et al. 2021

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Introduction There has been an increase in global health courses at medical universities in high-income countries. Their effect on students, however, is poorly understood. In 2016 an elective global surgery course was introduced for medical students at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The course includes a theoretical module in Sweden and a two-week clinical rotation in Uganda. The present study aimed to assess the format and determine its effect on students’ knowledge of global surgery and approach towards patients of non-Swedish origin. Method A mixed-methods design was used. Semi-structured case-based interviews were conducted individually with 18 students and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Examination scores and the course evaluation were analysed with Kruskal Wallis one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s Chi-square and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test as appropriate. Results The course was appreciated and students reported gained insights and interest in global surgery. Students’ ability to reason about global surgery issues was improved after the course. Students considered complicating aspects in the meeting with patients of non-Swedish origin. Students with abroad clinical experience felt less compelled to act on preconceptions. Discussion The global surgery course at Karolinska Institutet is appreciated and students gained valuable knowledge. The case-based interviews acted as a catalyst for reflection and showed that students felt insecure as they lacked knowledge about globally common surgical conditions and struggled with generalized preconceptions of patients of non-Swedish origin. To further support students to integrate theoretical knowledge and professional development, we suggest the introduction of problem-based learning. Conclusion The ability of the course to inspire students’ commitment to global surgery is promising as this engagement is the key to reaching the goal of equitable health globally. Offering such courses is a step towards inspiring and recruiting the future clinicians and researchers needed for expanding the field of global surgery.

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Development of a Novel Global Surgery Course for Medical Schools

Cited by 15 publications

References 26 publications

Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of Cameroonian medical students towards global surgery: A web-based survey

Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of Cameroonian medical students towards global surgery: A web-based survey

Development of an Interactive Global Surgery Course for Interdisciplinary Learners

Global surgery for medical students – is it meaningful? A mixed-method study

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