Academic global surgical competencies: A modified Delphi consensus study

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Surgical Education
• Medical Competencies

Background:

• Academic global surgery aims to enhance worldwide access to safe surgical care.
• The field currently lacks universally accepted competency standards.
• Standardization is crucial for developing this rapidly growing area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a consensus-based set of essential competencies for academic global surgery.
• To inform the development of standardized global surgical and perioperative care curricula.
• To address the need for a defined skillset in the field.

Main Methods:

• A task force of global surgical and perioperative care experts was recruited using snowball sampling.
• A modified Delphi process with two rounds of anonymous input was employed.
• An 80% consensus threshold determined the relevance of competencies and sub-competency learning objectives.

Main Results:

• Fifty-nine experts from 22 countries participated, with 63% from low- and middle-income countries.
• Consensus was reached on nine core competencies and 31 sub-competency objectives.
• Ethics and professionalism in global surgery achieved 100% consensus, emphasizing justice, equity, and decolonization.

Conclusions:

• The Delphi process successfully identified nine core competencies for academic global surgery and perioperative care.
• These competencies provide a foundation for developing standardized curricula globally.
• Further validation and assessment development are necessary to ensure effective teaching of these competencies.