This elective provides pediatric surgery fellows the unique opportunity to work hands-on with Rwandan surgeons and trainees to acquire practical skills in a setting encouraging an expanded appreciation of global health equity and cultural competency. University of Michigan trainees will experience work in a resource-limited setting and explore principles of health equity and access to care in diverse settings. Understanding that more than 2/3 of children globally lack access to safe surgery, this rotation will focus on surgical systems development, capacity building, and prioritization of children’s surgical care. Fellows will join a pediatric surgery team that covers both elective and emergency cases. The rotation is predominantly inpatient, and fellows are expected to function as a fellow on the team with patient care needs, operative engagement, critical care management, peer teaching, and medical student mentorship and instruction. Fellows will attend 2 faculty clinics during their rotation, and may be invited to private clinics at the faculty’s discretion. The pediatric surgery training program in Rwanda is approved through the University of Rwanda and the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA). As program sites expand to provincial (district) hospitals, fellows may rotate at additional approved sites to ensure maximal educational benefit while respecting the needs of local learners.
This hospital provides the only pediatric surgery services for the entire country of Rwanda.
The expected impact is to provide care for Rwandan children at the only surgical access for them in Rwanda.
I am interested in global surgery, the impact of mutual sharing of surgical knowledge and hope to have this trip solidify my interest in it.
I will also share my teaching with medical students and Rwandan Trainees.
My experience in Rwanda was amazing! I am a senior pediatric surgery fellow in the United States and went for an international pediatric surgery rotation. I was accepted as one of the fellows and respected like a visiting faculty. I was impressed at the methods to keep ORs clean in resource optimized conditions. An example is the shoe rack when entering the OR for outside shoes and OR shoes transition. As for OR sustainability, I wish I had taken a picture of the OR efficiency emphasized by waste which only filled a tiny trash bin after any of our big cases (reusable: drapes, gowns, bovie pads, laparoscopic ports, and cover of the laparoscope). We had good cases and hard cases. I loved being the surgeon and first assit but truly had a great time as the scrub tech/helping protector the awesome Rwandan trainees through cases and sharing different techniques or tools.
