Integration of Surgical Residency Training With US Military Humanitarian Missions

To describe how the US Navy integrates surgical resident training during hospital ship-based humanitarian activities and discuss the potential operative and educational benefits during these missions.

Retrospective review of predeployment surgical plans, operative case logs, and after-action reports from United States Naval Ship (USNS) Mercy humanitarian deployments from 2006 to 2012.

The USNS Mercy hospital ship.

We enrolled 24 surgical residents from different surgical specialties including general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, otolaryngology, and ophthalmology.

During 4 planned deployments (2006-2012), 2887 surgical procedures were performed during 20 humanitarian missions conducted by the USNS Mercy in 9 different Southeast Asian countries. Of all the general surgery eligible procedures performed, 1483 (79%) were defined categories under the current general surgery Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education guidelines, including abdominal (31%); skin, soft tissue, and breast (21%); ear, nose, and throat (20.5%); plastic surgery (15.5%); and pediatric (12%) cases. The number of surgical cases completed by each resident ranged from 30 to 67 cases over a period of 4 to 6 weeks during the overseas humanitarian rotation.

The US Navy's humanitarian experience provides a unique educational opportunity for young military surgeons to experience various global health systems, diverse cultures, and complex logistical planning without sacrificing the breadth and depth of surgical training. This model may provide a framework to develop future international electives for other general surgery training programs.