Accreditation of Training Programmes by the West African College of Surgeons

The establishment of surgical training programmes of the West African College of Surgeons started in six teaching hospitals the early 1970s in Nigeria and Ghana; it was championed by College Fellows, surgeons who had returned to the sub-region after having trained in Europe and America. Surgical programmes accreditation, captured in the College's constitution and mission statement, uses objective guidelines in the identification and encouragement of suitable institutions for surgical training through periodic peer-review audits of installed manpower, facilities, clinical services and academic programmes. This pan-regional model adopted by the five Anglophone countries of West Africa has standardized and nurtured surgical training in the disciplines of surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, dental surgery, radiology and anaesthesia. It has also proven to be a useful template in the current drive for the ongoing harmonization of surgical training programmes with Francophone West African as a prelude to an integrated sub-regional accreditation body. This paper details the evolution of surgical programmes accreditation in West Africa, its progress, challenges, opportunities and future trends.