Operative Epidemiology of the First Five Years in a New African Neurosurgery Training Center: The Experience in Rural Kenya at Tenwek Hospital 2016 to 2021.

Background: One strategy to increase the availability of neurosurgical services in underserved regions within Sub-Saharan African countries is to create new residency training programs outside of cosmopolitan cities where programs may already exist. In 2016 Tenwek Hospital in rural western Kenya began offering full-time neurosurgical services and in 2020 inaugurated a residency training program. This review highlights the operative epidemiology of the first 5 years of the hospital's neurosurgical department.

A needs assessment for simulation in African surgical education.

Introduction: There is a critical need for comprehensive surgical training in African countries given the unmet surgical burden of disease in this region. Collaborative and progressive initiatives in global surgical education will have the greatest impact on trainees. Little is known about surgical education needs from the perspective of practicing surgeons and trainees in low-middle-income countries (LMICs).

Gastrointestinal endoscopy experience of surgical trainees throughout rural Africa.

Background: Gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) is not routinely accessible in many parts of rural Africa. As surgical training expands and technology progresses, the capacity to deliver endoscopic care to patients improves. We aimed to describe the current burden of gastrointestinal (GI) disease undergoing GIE by examining the experience of surgical training related to GIE.

Surgical Training Throughout Africa: A Review of Operative Case Volumes at Multiple Training Centers.

Background: Adequate surgical training is paramount to produce competent surgeons to address the global burden of surgical disease. The Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) has general surgery training programs in eight countries. Operative case volumes have been positively associated with improved trainee performance and patient outcomes.

Is it possible to train surgeons for rural Africa? A report of a successful international program.

Background: The critical shortage of surgeons and access to surgical care in Africa is increasingly being recognized as a global health crisis. Across Africa, there is only one surgeon for every 250,000 people and only one for every 2.5 million of those living in rural areas.