World journal of surgery
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World journal of surgery · Jun 2011
Surgical capacity building in Uganda through twinning, technology, and training camps.
Neurosurgical capacity is extremely deficient in East African countries where 27 neurosurgeons serve more than 250 million people. To build capacity, the Duke University Medical Center and New Mulago Hospital in Uganda applied a two-pronged twinning approach that placed usable surplus equipment in a developing country's National Hospital, combined with dedicated comprehensive surgical training camps. ⋯ Through a twinning program combining delivery of surplus equipment and training camps, capacity building was accomplished and maintained. The program not only built overall surgical capacity, it improved the efficiency and increased the complexity of operative cases performed at the National Hospital in Uganda. This program could serve as a model for twinning, capacity building, and training in other developing countries where surgical disparities are among the greatest.
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World journal of surgery · Jun 2011
Surgical care in the Solomon Islands: a road map for universal surgical care delivery.
Access to surgical care and emergency obstetrical care is limited in low-income countries. The Solomon Islands is one of the poorest countries in the Pacific region. Access to surgical care in Solomon Islands is limited and severely affected by a country made up of islands. Surgical care is centralized to the National Referral Hospital (NRH) on Guadalcanal, leaving a void of care in the provinces where more than 80% of the people live. ⋯ Shortages in the surgical workforce can be resolved in Solomon Islands with focused training of new graduates. Training surgeons locally, in the Pacific region, can minimize the "brain drain." Redistribution of surgeons and obstetricians to the provincial hospitals can be accomplished by creating supportive connections between these hospitals, the NRH, and international medical institutions.