Journal of Surgical Education
Volume 67, Issue 4 , Pages 270-273 , July 2010

Improving Access to Surgery in a Developing Country: Experience from a Surgical Collaboration in Sierra Leone

  • Adam L. Kushner, MD

      Affiliations

    • Surgeons Overseas (SOS), New York, New York
    • Department of Surgery, Columbia University, New York, New York
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence: Inquiries to Adam L. Kushner, MD, Department of Surgery, Surgeons OverSeas (SOS), Box 854, Alpine, NJ 07620; fax: +1-201-768-7517
    • ,
  • Thaim B. Kamara, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, Connaught Hospital, Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone
    • Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone
    • ,
  • Reinou S. Groen, MD

      Affiliations

    • Surgeons Overseas (SOS), New York, New York
    • ,
  • Betsy D. Fadlu-Deen, RN

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, Connaught Hospital, Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone
    • ,
  • Kisito S. Doah, MD

      Affiliations

    • Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone
    • ,
  • T. Peter Kingham, MD

      Affiliations

    • Surgeons Overseas (SOS), New York, New York
    • Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

References 

  1. Debas H, Gosselin R, McCord C, Thind A. Surgery. In:  Jamison D editors. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries in Developing Countries. 2nd ed.. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2006;
  2. Farmer PE, Kim JY. Surgery and global health: a view from beyond the OR. World J Surg. 2008;32:537–542
  3. Abenavoli FM. Operation Smile humanitarian missions. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2005;115:356–357
  4. Chu K, Rosseel P, Trelles M, Gielis P. Surgeons without Borders: a brief history of surgery at Medecins sans Frontieres. World J Surg. 20100;34:411-414.
  5. Alpers MP. Hospital twinning between Australia and Papua New Guinea. P N G Med J. 2003;46:81–86
  6. Nthumba PM. “Blitz surgery”: redefining surgical needs, training, and practice in sub-Saharan Africa. World J Surg. 2010;34:433–437
  7. Powell AC, Mueller C, Kingham P, et al. International experience, electives, and volunteerism in surgical training: a survey of resident interest. J Am Coll Surg. 2007;205:162–168
  8. Ozgediz D, Wang J, Jayaraman S, et al. Surgical training and global health: initial results of a 5-year partnership with a surgical training program in a low-income country. Arch Surg. 2008;143:860–865Discussion: 865
  9. Klaristenfeld DD, Chupp M, Cioffi WG, White RE. An international volunteer program for general surgery residents at Brown Medical School: the Tenwek Hospital Africa experience. J Am Coll Surg. 2008;207:125–128
  10. World Health Organization. Tool for Situational Analysis to Assess Emergency and Essential Surgical Care. http://www.who.int/surgery/publications/QuickSitAnalysisEESCsurvey.pdfAccessed January 22, 2010
  11. Kingham TP, Kamara TB, Cherian MN, et al. Quantifying surgical capacity in Sierra Leone: a guide for improving surgical care. Arch Surg. 2009;144:122–127
  12. World Health Organization. Surgical Care at the District Hospital. http://www.who.int/surgery/publications/en/SCDH.pdfAccessed January 22, 2010
  13. Weiser TG, Regengogen SE, Thompson KD, et al. An estimation of the global volume of surgery: a modeling strategy based on available data. Lancet. 2008;372:139–144
  14. Human Development Report, United Nations Development Program. http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/Accessed January 22, 2010
  15. Maki J, Qualls M, White B, Kleefield S, Crone R. Health impact assessment and short-term medical missions: a methods study to evaluate quality of care. BMC Health Surv Res. 2008;8:121
  16. Anyangwe SC, Mtonga C. Inequities in the global health tk;4workforce: the greatest impediment to health in sub-Saharan Africa. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2007;4:93–100
  17. Stilwell B, Diallo K, Zurn P, et al. Migration of health-care workers from developing countries: strategic approaches to its management. Bull World Health. 2004;82:595–600
  18. McCoy D, Bennett S, Witter S, et al. Salaries and incomes of health workers in sub-Saharan Africa. Lancet. 2008;371:675–681

PII: S1931-7204(10)00115-7

doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2010.05.004

Journal of Surgical Education
Volume 67, Issue 4 , Pages 270-273 , July 2010

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