A. Ashok1, C. Stephens1, E. Ameh2, M. Swaroop3, E. Yang1, S. Krishnaswami1 3Northwestern University,Feinberg School Of Medicine,Chicago, IL, USA 1Oregon Health And Science University,Pediatric Surgery,Portland, OR, USA 2National Hospital,Abuja, FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, Nigeria
Introduction:
A previous AAS sponsored workshop demonstrated that high-income country (HIC) participants had strong interest in using Information and Communication Technology platforms (ICT) to facilitate global surgery collaborations. However, access, usage, and utility of ICT in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) was unknown. We hypothesized that LMIC surgeons shared similiar interest in using ICT to facilitate international collaborations and education initiatives.
Methods:
We conducted a survey of members of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS). Topics included computer and internet access/utilization, familiarity with ICT, such as social media (SM), virtual document sharing platforms (VDS), virtual meeting applications (VM), and learning management systems (LM), and interest in ICT adoption. English and French surveys were distributed through RedCap™ and in paper at the WACS and Pan African Pediatric Surgical Association conferences. Statistical analyses were done on STATA 14 using chi-squared tests, with Bonferroni corrections.
Results:
In total, 83 individuals began the survey, and 71% completed all sections. Respondents came from 9 countries (80% were faculty) and were equally split in years of practice (50% > 10 years). All respondents reported computer access, using laptops (91%), smartphones (82%) and tablets (62%). A significantly greater proportion (95%) of participants used SM compared to all other modalities (p<0.001). Commonly used SM platforms included Facebook, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, with 77% using them for professional reasons and 57% for education. VDS was used by 60% of participants, 73% of whom used it for education. The utilization of other ICTs was lower (VM 43%, LM 32%). Unreliable wifi hindered every ICT, less often SM (41%) and VDS (23%), and more commonly VM (64%) and LM (52%). Despite this, VM was typically used in international collaboration (79%), as compared to SM (42%, p=0.007), VDS (42%, p=0.007), or LM (32%, p=0.001, see figure). The vast majority of respondents (98%) expressed interest in using ICT to support local and international collaboration, with SM favored in medical education (85%) and VDS favored in collaborations (86%).
Conclusion:
ICT platforms have potential for supporting bidirectional education initiatives and international collaborations in resource limited areas, with surgeons in both HIC and LMIC expressing high levels of interest. Given the penetrance and reliability of SM and VDS, despite relative underusage and, at times, unreliable and limited wifi, there is significant potential for increased use of both platforms. Workshops providing instruction on ICT use are warranted to support the expansion of ICT use in global surgical collaborations.
