The international health elective: a stepping stone for tomorrow’s global surgeons and anaesthetists

Excerpt

Global surgery is often labelled ‘the neglected stepchild of global health’ and has been defined by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery as ‘an area of study, research, practice, and advocacy that seeks to improve health outcomes and achieve health equity for all people who need surgical and anaesthesia care, with a special emphasis on underserved populations and populations in crisis’ [1, 2]. Over five billion citizens are unable to access safe, affordable, surgical and anaesthesia care with the majority of these living in low and middle income countries (LMICs) [2]. To address this, we must invest not only in training and infrastructure but also in research capacity, in order to build an appropriate evidence base for global health improvement. Partnerships between surgeons and anaesthetists in high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs have proven effective in boosting research output [3]. However, sustaining progress requires the nurturing of today’s medical students to become tomorrow’s global surgeons and anaesthetists. …