J. Rickard1, K. Chu2 1University Of Minnesota,Surgery,Minneapolis, MN, USA 2University Of Cape Town,Surgery,Cape Town, , South Africa
Introduction:
Safe and affordable surgical care has been recognized as an important component of global health. One of the challenges in providing safe and affordable surgical care is the shortage of trained surgical workforce. Partnerships have developed between institutions in high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to strengthen and expand surgical education in LMICs. As these relationships evolve, emphasis needs to focus on development of equitable, bilateral partnerships. We describe features of successful, equitable, bilateral partnerships supporting surgical education in LMICs and provide a blueprint for developing such a partnership.
Methods:
We compared different global surgery education partnerships to define features of equitable partnerships. We describe key components and features of successful partnerships and describe how to establish an equitable global surgical education partnership.
Results:
Key features of equitable global surgical education partnerships include an alignment with local priorities, long term collaborations, and locally integrated, competency-based training. To develop a partnership, both parties must meet and perform a needs assessment of the LMIC institution and jointly agree how the partnership can best address these needs. Partnerships can be enhanced through twinning programs, focusing on faculty teaching roles. Institutions from HICs can fill in gaps in training through observerships, fellowships, or other training opportunities for LMICs trainees. Multi-institutional consortiums provide more consistent support in LMICs. However, these need to be tempered with appropriate organization and structure, avoiding inconsistencies and disorganization amongst HIC partner institutions. Both the HIC and LMIC institutions must clearly define their goals and expectations. Ideally, a set of output measures will be defined to assess the success of the partnership.
Conclusion:
Improving surgical education in LMIC countries is an integral part of health equity in global surgery. Key components of equitable education partnerships focus on local ownership and long-term relationships. Each party needs to clearly define goals and expectations for the partnership. Strategies for long-term relationships need to be based on both the current and future conditions at the LMIC institution.