Introducing the four Global Surgical Training Challenge finalists Caroline Purslow Caroline Purslow Programme Manager, Global Health Team View profile 27 Jan 2022 The Global Surgical Training Challenge has today announced the four finalist teams who will receive up to US$500,000 to support the further development of their open-source surgical training models. The four teams include members from multiple continents and represent a variety of surgical specialties, including obstetrics, orthopedics, trauma, and reconstructive surgery. Over the last year, they have been working with the Global Surgical Training Challenge partners through workshops and mentoring sessions, to refine their models. The Finalist teams are: Team Surgical Specialty Area Countries Represented CrashSavers Trauma Hemorrhage control in trauma triage Guatemala, Brasil, Chile, United States AMO Smile Local flap reconstructive surgery South Africa, Ghana, United Kingdom, United States Tibial Fracture Fixation Modular external fixation of open tibial shaft fractures Nigeria, Uganda, Canada, United States ALL-SAFE Laparoscopic surgery for ectopic pregnancy Ethiopia, Cameroon, Kenya, United States “These teams have been on a remarkable journey over the last year. They are all passionate surgical educators who have embraced the idea of open-source training as well as self-assessment, both new concepts in surgical training.” Catherine Mohr, M.D. President of the Intuitive Foundation The Global Surgical Training Challenge launched in early 2020, just as the global pandemic was impacting international travel and creating unprecedented pressure on healthcare providers around the world. Against this backdrop, international teams composed of surgical educators, engineers, and global surgery experts gathered virtually to collaborate in solving critical surgical needs in low and middle income countries. The judging panel, composed of internationally recognized global surgery experts, reviewed the submissions in December. They evaluated the projects and prototypes with support from external assessors and the Global Surgical Training Challenge management team. Up to 17 million people, particularly in low and middle income countries, die every year from lack of access to surgical care. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery’s report identified the development of a surgical workforce as a key indicator for addressing this critical need. “The level of collaboration and the resulting quality of the submissions is impressive. It has been inspiring to see team members from such diverse backgrounds learning from each other, as well as from our judging panel and partner organizations.” Caroline Purslow Challenge Manager at Challenges Works Over this year, the finalist teams will continue to develop their training models. A final Grand Prize award of US$1 million will be granted to the team that has demonstrated that their original model and further models are validated and impactful. Sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date with the teams progress!
