Surgical skills deficiencies and needs of rural general practitioners in South Africa

Porter, Deborah; Bezuidenhout, Johan; Toit, R.S. Du; Adefuye, Anthonio Oladele

doi:10.7196/samj.2018.v108i3.12611

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…15 Likewise, surgeons debating on how to strengthen surgery in health districts often seem unaware of the contribution of FPs. 4 The discipline of family medicine in SA has set a 10-year goal of one FP at every DH and community health centre or subdistrict. 7 Currently we have 0.16 FPs per 10 000 population and this varies from 0.3/10 000 in the Western Cape to 0.05/10 000 in Limpopo.…”

Section: Reflections On Family Physicians and Surgery At District Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 15 Likewise, surgeons debating on how to strengthen surgery in health districts often seem unaware of the contribution of FPs. 4 …”

Section: Reflections On Family Physicians and Surgery At District Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been widely noticed that substantial skills gap exist at these hospitals, particularly in terms of essential surgical and anaesthetic services. 3,4,5 These hospitals are usually too small and with too little surgery to support full time surgical and anaesthetic specialists. Organising DHs along traditional specialist disciplines is impractical, costly and inefficient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been widely noticed that substantial skills gap exist at these hospitals, particularly in terms of essential surgical and anaesthetic services. 3 , 4 , 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The contribution of family physicians to surgical capacity at district hospitals in South Africa

Hendriks

Adeniji

Jenkins

et al. 2021

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

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The World Health Organization states that essential, cost-effective surgical care should be delivered at district hospitals. In South Africa significant skills gap exist at district hospitals, particularly in the area of surgery and anaesthesia. These small to moderate sized hospitals are too small to support a range of full time specialists even if they could be recruited and were cost-effective. Family physicians (FPs) are trained in the clinical skills required for district hospitals and primary health care. Clinical associates have also been introduced to perform procedures at district hospitals. This report illustrates the contribution of a FP to surgical care at Zithulele Hospital in the Eastern Cape. Family physicians not only bring the necessary clinical skills set but also increase the confidence and capacity of the whole team. Outreach and support by surgeons, as well as continuing professional development, are important. Surgical and anaesthetic skills must be developed together. Family physicians also bring leadership and clinical governance skills that ensure the inputs to support surgery, such as equipment and information systems are available. The contribution of FPs to surgery and district hospitals is overlooked in both policy and practice. Human resources for health policy should recognise their contribution and increase the numbers available and FP posts at district hospitals. There is also a need to update the package of emergency and essential surgical procedures in policy.

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Section: Reflections On Family Physicians and Surgery At District Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 15 Likewise, surgeons debating on how to strengthen surgery in health districts often seem unaware of the contribution of FPs. 4 …”

Section: Reflections On Family Physicians and Surgery At District Hospitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been widely noticed that substantial skills gap exist at these hospitals, particularly in terms of essential surgical and anaesthetic services. 3 , 4 , 5 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The contribution of family physicians to surgical capacity at district hospitals in South Africa

Hendriks

Adeniji

Jenkins

et al. 2021

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

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“…27,28 In rural Africa, much of the surgical workforce is carried out by non-specialist physicians whose skills, it has been reported, require special surgical intervention programs for enhancement. 29,30 It has been observed, though informally among young medical doctors in our environment, that there is deficiency in common surgical skills needed for day-to-day medical practice such as: how to wear gloves, how to suture wounds, how to tie surgical knots, knowledge of sutures, etc. This is corroborated by the findings of an audit of surgical skills of final year medical students carried out about nine years ago, in which the exposure level was reported to be low.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Opinions on basic surgical skills laboratory for undergraduate medical education: optional or a necessity in Nigeria

Ijah

Aaron²,

Jebbin³

et al. 2023

Int Surg J

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Background: The foundation in training in any profession attracts considerable attention because it is crucial to the long-term survival of that profession. The traditional method of acquiring set skills has always been that of initial observation, then assisting in the act, and finally performing under supervision. Today, there is a notable shift in that method of training for the acquisition of surgical skills, with emphasis on acquiring the skills first outside of the operating room in dry and wet laboratories. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, experiences and opinions of medical doctors in Port Harcourt on basic surgical skills for undergraduate medical training in Nigeria. Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 564 Medical Doctors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, using total population. Information on demographics, knowledge and experiences on basic surgical skills was collated and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 34.89±9.25. Mean knowledge score of basic surgical skills during undergraduate medical training was 63.73±14.80, and 86.52±16.32 during houseman-ship. Four hundred and forty-nine (79.6%) respondents had experienced practical challenges when carrying out basic surgical skills during medical practice after graduation. First experience at suturing patient's wound was full of struggling/difficulty for 213 (37.8%) respondents. Conclusion: Although the mean knowledge score for basic surgical skills among respondents was above average, practical experiences revealed that some respondents had difficulty in carrying out significant number of basic surgical skills. Supervised usage of basic surgical skills laboratory should be mandatory to ensure that it fulfils the purpose of its establishment.

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Evaluation of the Spring Seedling Project—Zhaotong Program: A study of a novel continuing medical education program for rural doctors in China

Zhu

Chen³

et al. 2020

Australian J Rural Health

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Surgical skills deficiencies and needs of rural general practitioners in South Africa

Abstract: Enhancing skills of GPs in essential surgical techniques and procedures through an accredited CPD short learning programme will ensure that adequate and comprehensive essential surgical care is provided to people living in rural communities.

Cited by 4 publications

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The contribution of family physicians to surgical capacity at district hospitals in South Africa

The contribution of family physicians to surgical capacity at district hospitals in South Africa

Opinions on basic surgical skills laboratory for undergraduate medical education: optional or a necessity in Nigeria

Evaluation of the Spring Seedling Project—Zhaotong Program: A study of a novel continuing medical education program for rural doctors in China

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