An Evaluation Of Global Surgery Perspectives, Knowledge, And Skills Amongst Past Surgical Trainees In East, Central, And Southern Africa

An Evaluation Of Global Surgery Perspectives, Knowledge, And Skills Amongst Past Surgical Trainees In East, Central, And Southern Africa

Yvan Zolo, Wakisa Mulwafu, Salome Maswime
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; The College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa, Malawi

Introduction: Global Surgery aims to enhance access to essential surgical care in resource-limited settings by strengthening services, systems, and policies. However, Africa faces a shortage of academic Global Surgery programs and limited exposure for trainees who must address surgical care inequities.
Methodology: We conducted a quantitative prospective cross-sectional study to evaluate knowledge and skills in Global Surgery of registrars and specialists affiliated with the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. This study employed an electronic survey.
Results: Out of 75 responses, the mean age was 36-40 years (32.39%). Participants came from 15 countries, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Uganda being the most represented. Most respondents were General Surgery specialists and had completed training within the past 1-5 years. The majority practiced in urban settings (68%), followed by rural (20%) and peri-urban (12%). Familiarity with Global Surgery principles varied: 38.7% reported low, 33.3% moderate, and 28% high familiarity. Exposure to formal training in Global Surgery was reported by 17.6%, with 75.7% having none. Exposure included webinars (50.7%) and conferences (34.7%), with none having attained a degree in Global Surgery. Knowledge of fundamental Global Surgery concepts varied, with the Surgical Checklist most recognized (86.7%) and Geospatial Mapping least familiar. Respondents perceived their Global Surgery skills as Basic (40.5%), Insufficient (31.1%), Advanced (12.2%), and Expert (1.3%). 82.4% indicated that the inclusion of Global Surgery into the formal curriculum would be beneficial.
Conclusion: There is limited exposure knowledge and understanding of key concepts in Global Surgery by past surgical trainees and specialists, despite the challenges they must address in providing care in their clinical setting such as barriers to access, infrastructure, equipment, technology and information systems. There is strong support for Global Surgery training to be incorporated into surgical training programmes, and a high interest in further Global Surgery education, by past and present surgical trainees in East, Central and Southern Africa.

Keywords: Global Surgery, East, Central, and Southern Africa, Surgeons’ knowledge, Formal training, Surgical challenges