Pretraining experience and structure of surgical training at a sub-Saharan African university

The common goal of surgical training is to provide effective, well-rounded surgeons who are capable of providing a safe and competent service that is relevant to the society within which they work. In recent years, the surgical workforce crisis has gained greater attention as a component of the global human resources in health problems in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to: (1) describe the models for specialist surgical training in Uganda; (2) evaluate the pretraining experience of surgical trainees; (3) explore training models in the United States and Canada and areas of possible further inquiry and intervention for capacity-building efforts in surgery and perioperative care.

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at Makerere University, College of Health Sciences during 2011-2012. Participants were current and recently graduated surgical residents. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire and were entered and analyzed using an excel Microsoft spread sheet. The Makerere University, College of Health Sciences Institutional Review Board approved the study.

Of the 35 potential participants, 23 returned the questionnaires (65 %). Mean age of participants was 29 years with a male/female ratio of 3:1. All worked predominantly in general district hospitals. Pretraining procedures performed numbered 2,125 per participant, which is twice that done by their US and Canadian counterparts during their entire 5-year training period.

A rich pretraining experience exists in East Africa. This should be taken advantage of to enhance surgical specialist training at the institution and regional level.