General Surgery scope of practice, providing surgical consultation, diagnosis, treatment, and followup (when possible) over a period of one week in July 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda. I will be one of four general surgeons on the team and will work as a primary surgeon and also as a co-surgeon if needed for complex surgical cases. The work will also involve education/training of local surgical residents/surgeons. Examples of the types of surgeries I anticipate doing or assisting with include but are not limited to the following: hernias, endocrine, soft tissue and wounds, abdominal surgery, and possibly trauma-related injuries, including stabilization of extremity fractures.
Organized by the team lead, Dr. Fletcher Starnes through Global Helping Hand, the local under-served population of Kigali and surrounding areas are the beneficiaries of this project and the surgical services provided.
A secondary objective of the surgical team is to provide on-hands training in general surgery to local surgical residents and surgeons to educate and train them in general surgery to become more proficient and independent.
Local surgical residents and surgeons may train with our surgical team. The idea is to educate them and to help them see and do as much as possible in-order to become self-sufficient and go on to operate as surgeons in their hometown. I will also help collect through donation as much mesh and suture for possible use in cases done there.
We served patients in Kigali, Rwanda, at the Nyarugenge District Hospital. The team as a whole performed primarily hernia operations and thyroid surgery. During the last day, we performed breast exams and screening for breast cancer.
