Training 750 General surgeons in this decade for district hospitals in Kenya

Training 750 General surgeons in this decade for district hospitals in Kenya

Kaneej Wazirali, Pankaj Jani
The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA)

Background: Kenya has a dire shortage of surgeons at the District Hospitals (DH) The impact of COSECSA with 25 accredited hospitals, most of which are in non-metropolitan towns, and with a capacity to train 65 surgeons per year can be a solution to this problem.

Methods: Analysis from the records of COSECSA training centers, with collation of data from the 3 other University based training programs, that train post graduates in surgery in Kenya. The primary goal was to work out if 3 general surgeons can be trained, in this decade, for each of the 250DH’s, to provide the desperately needed Emergency and Essential General surgery and also lead to a national plan for provision of surgical services in Kenya.

Results: The surgical capacity study in 2018 Kenya revealed that 80% of the district hospitals in Kenya do not have a full time General Surgeon. The COSECSA model has proven that surgeons willing to work at DH can be trained. Most COSECSA accredited hospitals, including Tenwek, Kijabe, Chogoria, Letein and Kikuyu have trainers who are COSECSA fellows, and such efforts can achieve the goal of having general surgeons at the DH’s. Together with the 3 Universities, it is possible to train 750 General Surgeons in this decade of 2020 to 2030.

Conclusion: Kenya can achieve, in this decade, the goal of training 3 General surgeons for each DH for the provision of the desperately needed surgical care.