Global Surgery
Overview
Traditionally surgery has been taught as a technical and practical specialty. This short course takes a completely different approach and looks at the provision of surgical services at a global level. The term 'Global Surgery' in this course encompasses all related specialties including obstetrics, gynaecology and anaesthesia/critical care.
This five-day course, run by Oxford University Global Surgery Group, is suitable for those interested in global surgery in all disciplines. The first four days will comprise presentations, discussions and seminars looking at major topics in global surgery such as burden of disease, manpower issues, training, partnership, supplies, service management and research needs. There will also be a half-day session on practical preparation for surgery in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs).
The final day will involve attendance at a conference on global surgery held in Oxford at the iconic Blavatnik School of Government and run by the Global Anaesthesia, Surgery & Obstetric Collaboration (GASOC).
The need for global surgery
The publication of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery in 2015 has highlighted the massive disparity in provision of life saving and life changing surgical services around the world. Recent estimates quoted in the commission report suggest that 5 billion of the world’s 7 billion population do not have access to safe timely surgical treatment near to where people live, and that 150 million more surgical procedures are needed per year if even a barely adequate service is to be provided.
Programme details
Delegates are advised to arrive in Oxford on Sunday, 9 September to ensure they are able to attend the programme of teaching and interactive workshops beginning on the morning of Monday, 10 September.
Schedule
Monday, 10 September (Green Templeton College)
- Global Needs: Lancet Commission/ indicators of surgical need and activity. Evidence and solutions.
- Equipping the surgical workforce in an age of rapid communication.
Tuesday, 11 September (Green Templeton College)
- The journey to safer surgery: the challenges to effective delivery of Surgical Care.
- Preparation for Global Surgery; embracing the opportunities and avoiding the pitfalls.
Wednesday, 12 September (Green Templeton College)
- The right people for the right job; contextually relevant task shifting.
- Working together developing cooperative partnerships.
Thursday, 13 September (Green Templeton College)
- Research driving change; the opportunities and the questions to ask.
- Delegate presentations
- Open lecture on the Challenge of Global by keynote speaker
Friday, 14 September (Blavatnik School of Government)
Global Anaesthesia, Surgery and Obstetric Collaboration (GASOC) national conference.
Please note this schedule is subject to change.
Course structure
10 hours pre-course preparation
All participants will be given a list of relevant resources (websites, papers, videos etc). This will be accompanied by a series of questions to enable them to critically evaluate these resources systematically.
35 hours on the taught course and conference
The subjects are outlined in the schedule above and will include presentations from the course tutors and invited international speakers, interactive seminars, small group study and course work undertaken by the participants, leading to a presentation at the end of the week.
20 hours of moderated online teaching
The topics of the 8 timetabled sessions on the programme will be further explored via an asynchronous online discussion managed through the course VLE (Virtual Learning Environment). These will be moderated by an assigned tutor.
Assessment, up to 50 hours
Formative assessment will occur both during the course and in the post-course online discussions. Summative assessment will involve a 4000 written coursework assignment (essay) given at the end of the course, which will give the participant the opportunity to apply the themes presented on the course to their own working environment. This will need to be returned by four weeks following the course.
Certification
Those wishing to may apply to take the course with accreditation. The University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education offers Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS) points for the course.
Participants attending the taught course and successfully completing assessed assignments are eligible to earn 20 CATS-equivalent points which may be counted towards a postgraduate qualification.
Short course participants who do not wish to undertake the assessed work required for academic credit but who do satisfy the course attendance requirements will receive a certificate of attendance.
Accommodation
Accommodation is not covered in the course fee and is the responsibility of participants. Oxford has a large number of guest houses and hotels. Limited accommodation may be available to early applicants at the Rewley House Residential Centre, within the Department for Continuing Education, in central Oxford and walkable to the course venues. The comfortable, en-suite, study-bedrooms have been rated as 4-Star Campus accommodation under the Quality In Tourism scheme, and come with tea- and coffee-making facilities, free Wi-Fi access and Freeview TV. Guests can take advantage of the excellent dining facilities and common room bar, where they may relax and network with others on the programme.
IT requirements
This course uses an online assignment submission system and online courseware. In order to participate in the course, and to prepare and submit course assignments, participants will need access to the internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification.
Fees
Course fee: £980.00
Funding
If you are a citizen of an LMIC (low or middle income country) and wish to be considered for a bursary to attend this course indicate this on your application form.
Payment
The course fee of £980 includes:
- Tuition
- Course materials
- Refreshments and lunch on each day of the course
- Conference registration refreshments and lunch on 14th September
- Access to the following University of Oxford libraries and services:
- Radcliffe Science Library
- Rewley House Continuing Education Library
- Bodleian Libraries e-Resources
- Access to facilities from the Department of Continuing Education, including:
- The Graduate School
- WebLearn virtual learning environment
- Wi-fi access through Oxford Wireless LAN (OWL).
Various payment methods available.
Tutors
Prof Kokila Lakhoo
Course Director
Kokila Lakhoo is consultant paediatric surgeon at the Children’s Hospital in Oxford and the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, with research interests in global surgery, fetal counselling, neonatal necrotising enterocolitis surgery and paediatric thoracic surgery. She is chair of the international forum for the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons and is personally developing paediatric surgery through a link in Tanzania. She is the director of Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery (GICS) that has followed on from the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. She is editor of four books, including a recent joint venture with her African colleagues as editor to a text book namely ‘Paediatric Surgery: a comprehensive text for Africa’. She has to date contributed to 70 chapters to paediatric surgical text books and has over 300 peer reviewed publications.
https://www.nds.ox.ac.uk/team/kokila-lakhoo
Prof Christopher Lavy
Course Director
OBE MD MCh FCS FRCS
Chris Lavy is Professor of Orthopaedic and Tropical Surgery and Consultant Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon at the University of Oxford.
In 1996-2006 he worked in Malawi, where he helped to set up two orthopaedic hospitals, national orthopaedic surgical and clinical officer training, and an international clubfoot programme. He also co-founded the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA), which now has 12 member countries.
He is a commissioner for the milestone report Lancet Commission on Global Surgery 2015, and he has led several DFID-funded health partnership projects linking University of Oxford with COSECSA and other partners in Africa, to develop training and research partnerships in primary trauma care, clubfoot treatment, and orthopaedic surgery. He is a principal investigator for SURG-Africa, an EU Horizon 2020 project, focusing on improving district-level surgical care, and he is currently setting up a children’s orthopaedic unit in Zimbabwe.
Professor Lavy was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List 2007 for services to orthopaedics.
https://www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/team/christopher-lavy
Dr Hilary Edgcombe
Hilary Edgcombe is a consultant anaesthetist at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with expertise in delivering both high quality clinical care and training in low-resource settings. With a Masters in Global Health with Global Surgery, clinical and training experience over the last 15 years in several sub-Saharan African countries, and enthusiasm for locally-led innovation, her current research interests include work on the LIFE project with colleagues from the University of Oxford and KEMRI-Wellcome, Kenya, developing mobile training tools for use in resource-poor settings, and the training of different cadres of anaesthesia provider in sub-Saharan Africa. She also directs the internationally recognised Anaesthesia in Developing Countries course, held in Uganda annually.
https://www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/team/hilary-edgcombe
Dr Anita Makins
Anita Makins is an Obstetrician & Gynaecologist with a Masters in Public Health in Developing Countries. Her specialist interest is in Global Women's Health Issues and she has worked extensively in sub-Saharan Africa in Emergency Obstetric care, Gynaecology and Fistula surgery.
Currently she works part time at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and part time for FIGO (International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists).
At the OUH she works on Delivery Suite, elective CS lists, emergency gynaecology clinic and does ad hoc day case Gynae surgery.
At FIGO, Anita is Deputy Director of the PPIUD (Post Partum Intrauterine Device) Initiative, sits on FIGO's Contraception Working Group and on the Committee for Women's Health and Human Rights and collaborates with the WHO on Medical Eligibility Criteria workshops.
On a voluntary basis, she is a faculty member of the Oxford University's Global Surgery group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s (LSTM) Making it Happen Programme, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's (LSHTM) Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Mr Tony Jefferis
Tony Jefferis was an ENT Surgeon is East Berkshire between 1985- 2011 after training in Cambridge and London. He was Head of the Oxford School of Surgery 2007-2012 and Deputy PG Dean in Oxford till 2015. Since leaving paid work he teaches on the Education Module for the Oxford MSc in Surgical Science and Practice and works with the Oxford Global Surgery Group. His current overseas involvement is in Sub Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
http://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/discover/people/tony-jefferis/
Mr Jim Turner
Jim Turner is a Consultant Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a Clinical Research Fellow in Global Surgery at NDORMS, University of Oxford. He returned at the end of 2017 from an 18 month stint working as a surgeon in CURE Ethiopia Children’s Hospital.
After graduating from University of Edinburgh, Jim was awarded a commission with the British Army and served in the 2003 Iraq war as a Regimental Medical Officer of the Parachute Regiment. This experience was instrumental in him developing a passion for humanitarian healthcare and gaining a post-graduate qualification in medical care for catastrophes. During his orthopaedic training, he spent time working in a rural south African mission hospital, performed free surgery camps in India, and completed paediatric orthopaedic fellowships at Beit CURE International Hospital Malawi and the Hospital for Sick Kids, Toronto. Jim has also worked as a clinical advisor with the World Health Organisation to develop global trauma guidelines.
https://www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/team/james-turner
Prof Nobhojit Roy
Nobhojit Roy trained as a trauma surgeon in Mumbai, UK and Hong Kong. Currently, Roy is the National Advisor to the Indian Ministry of Health & family welfare for Public Health Planning and Evidence. Prior to this, he served as the Professor & Chief of Surgical services at BARC hospital providing Universal Health Care to 100,000 people in suburban Mumbai, India. He also holds a MPH from John Hopkins University and a PhD from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden on surgical outcomes, surgical registriesand delivering healthcare in resource-poor settings. He has been a Lancet Commissioner for Global Surgery (2013-2015) (www.lancetglobalsurgery.org) and currently, is a Lancet Commissioner for NCD and Injuries in the poorest billion (www.ncdipoverty.org).
Prof Tahmina Banu
Prof Tahmina Banu is one of the pioneer pediatric surgeons of Bangladesh. She was most recently Chairman of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the Chittagong Medical College & Hospital, currently working as Director, Chittagong Research Institute for Children Surgery, Bangladesh. She did her postgraduation [MS Paediatric Surgery] from BICH, Dhaka. She is a fellow of Royal College of Surgeons and Rowan Nicks fellow of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Tahmina innovated Outreach surgical Program in 2008 to bring surgical services to rural children utilizing primary & secondary health care facilities; low-cost techniques for everyday patient sufferings such as stoma care using betel leaves, Bananagram in place of distal cologram etc. She is a board member & lead for research group of Global Initiative for Children Surgery [GICS]. Tahmina is a health activist with the belief in surgery for social justice.
Teaching methods
The course is run by the Oxford University Global Surgery Group which is linked to the four surgically related departments:
- Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences (NDS)
- Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, (NDORMS)
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN)
- Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health (NDWRH)
Joint Course Leads
- Kokila Lakhoo, Associate Professor, NDS
- Chris Lavy, Professor of Orthopaedic and Tropical Surgery, NDORMS
Tutors will include
- Hilary Edgcombe, Consultant Anaesthetist, NDCN
- Dr Anita Makins, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, NDWRH
- Roba Khundkar, Consultant Plastic Surgeon
- Tony Jefferis, retired Consultant ENT surgeon, NDS
- Jim Turner, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, NDORMS
- Nick de Pennington, Neurosurgeon and innovator
- Nobhojit Roy, National Advisor to the Indian Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for Public Health Planning and Evidence
- Tahmina Banu, Director, Chittagong Research Institute for Children Surgery, Bangladesh
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course the participant will be expected to:
- Demonstrate systematic understanding of the factors influencing the availability and practice of surgical care in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
- Explain the scope and complex interactions of medical and non-medical factors and institutions in supporting surgical services in LMICs.
- Critically evaluate surgical research in LMICs and suggest new lines of enquiry.
- Design a contextually relevant approach to improving surgical services in their own LMIC or one where they may have responsibility or interest.
Assessment methods
Formative assessment (non-assessed) will occur both during the course and in the post-course online discussions.
Summative assessment (assessed) will involve a 4000 word written coursework assignment (essay).
The coursework assignment will be set during the course, which will give the participant the opportunity to apply the themes presented on the course to their own working environment.
The assignment will need to be submitted online after the course. Provisional date: Friday, 12 October 2018.
Application
We strongly recommend that you download and save files before completing to ensure that all your changes are saved.
This course requires you to complete and submit the application form below and a copy of your CV.
If you are applying to take this course for academic credit you will also need to complete section two of the reference form and forward it to your referee for completion. Please note that if you are not applying to take the course for academic credit then you do not need to submit a reference.
Please ensure you read the guidance notes before completing the application form, as any errors resulting from failure to do so may delay your application.
Places on the course are limited, so early application is strongly recommended. Once we have received your completed application it will be considered by the admissions panel.
Application deadline: Monday, 30 April at 5:00pm
Successful applicants will be informed by: Friday, 11 May 2018
Selection criteria
The course is aimed at medical personnel with an interest in Global Surgery. This includes qualified surgeons anaesthetists and obstetricians/gynaecologists and those in training including senior medical students. The course should also be suitable for allied health care professions linked to Global Surgery. The academic level of the course will be set at a Masters equivalent (national level 7).
Terms and conditions
Terms and conditions for applicants and students on this course
Sources of funding
Information on financial support
