Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
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Operative case volumes and variation for general surgery training in East, Central, and Southern Africa

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posted on 2023-10-06, 13:49 authored by Michael M Mwachiro, Yves Yankunze, Niraj Bachheta, Emma Scroope, Deirdre Mangaoang, Abebe Bekele, Russell E White, Robert K Parker

Background: Operative experience is a necessary part of surgical training. The College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA), which oversees general surgery training programs in the region, has implemented guidelines for the minimum necessary case volumes upon completion of two (Membership) and five (Fellowship) years of surgical training. We aimed to review trainee experience to determine whether guidelines are being met and examine the variation of cases between countries.

Methods: Operative procedures were categorized from a cohort of COSECSA general surgery trainees and compared to the guideline minimum case volumes for Membership and Fellowship levels. The primary and secondary outcomes were total observed case volumes and cases within defined categories. Variations by country and development indices were explored.

Results: One hundred ninety-four trainees performed 69,283 unique procedures related to general surgery training. The review included 70 accredited hospitals and sixteen countries within Africa. Eighty percent of MCS trainees met the guideline minimum of 200 overall cases; however, numerous trainees did not meet the guideline minimum for each procedure. All FCS trainees met the volume target for total cases and orthopedics; however, many did not meet the guideline minimums for other categories, especially breast, head and neck, urology, and vascular surgery. The operative experience of trainees varied significantly by location and national income level.

Conclusions: Surgical trainees in East, Central, and Southern Africa have diverse operative training experience. Most trainees fulfill the overall case volume requirements; however, further exploration of how to meet the demands of specific categories and procedures is necessary.

Funding

Open Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium

History

Comments

The original article is available at https://link.springer.com/

Published Citation

Mwachiro MM. et al. Operative Case Volumes and Variation for General Surgery Training in East, Central, and Southern Africa. World J Surg. 2023;47(12):3032-3039.

Publication Date

11 September 2023

PubMed ID

37697170

Department/Unit

  • Institute of Global Surgery
  • Undergraduate Research

Publisher

Springer International.

Version

  • Published Version (Version of Record)