Global Surgical Programs
The Department of Surgery Collaborates to Improve Global Surgical Care

Building Surgical Capacity, Decreasing Healthcare Costs
Country | Faculty | Scope of Activities |
Belize | Dr. Chris Dodgion | A plan to strengthen trauma care at Karl Heusner Hospital |
Cuba | Drs. Marc de Moya, Tom Carver, Chris Dodgion, Colleen Trevino | Multi-year training initiative to strengthen trauma and acute care education and surgical services |
Ethiopia | Drs. Marc de Moya, Chris Dodgion, Libby Schroeder | American College of Surgeons’ Hawassa University collaboration with 12 institutions for an educational platform of training general surgeons |
England | Dr. Keith Oldham | Assess and address the global surgical needs of children |
Ghana | Dr. Chris Dodgion | Development of ATLS training program, trauma care model for Wenchi Hospital |
Haiti | Dr. Chris Dodgion | Evaluate burden, geographic distribution surgical disease at St. Boniface Hospital |
Kenya | Drs. Lyle Joyce, Paul Pearson, David Joyce | Advance field of cardiac surgery, specifically valvular heart surgery at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet |
Madagascar | Dr. Libby Schroeder | Work with Operation Smile, LifeBox, World Children’s Initiative to build an essential surgical referral center |
Nepal | Dr. Dean Klinger | Enhance surgical education and research at the Kathmandu University Medical School and Hospital located in Dhulikhel |
Peru | Drs. Michael Mitchell, Kieth Oldham, Casey Matthew Calkins, John Densmore, Mary Otterson | Multi-year training collaboration to improve complex cardiac surgery in public hospitals; annual surgical care educational symposium for pediatric services, inguinal hernias, lipomas |
Korea | Drs. Johnny Hong, Joohyn Kim | Bi-lateral learning on live organ donation and transplantation |
Switzerland | Dr. Johnny Hong | Mutually beneficial education and research partnership for faculty, trainees |
Training the Next Generation of Global Surgeons
The GME Global Health Scholars academic enrichment program is available to any surgery resident and fellow who wants to advance their global health knowledge and leadership skills. This two-year training program gives them exposure to trainees in other specialties and network with MCW's globally engaged faculty who provide interactive didactic seminars across the Consortium of Universities of Global Health competencies. Currently 37 trainees across 14 subspecialities are enrolled. This educational effort culminates in a global health away rotation where surgery trainees can witness surgical services in another part of the world. This academic year, six residents will rotate abroad. Opportunities with our faculty's collaborators in Nepal and Ethiopia allow trainees to experience surgery in diverse resource settings. The new Global Surgery Fellowship is a two-year training program for the already globally engaged resident to have advanced practice as an educator and surgeon, collaborating with in-country partners to build surgical capacity, as well as research, education and quality improvement efforts.
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has developed a strong partnership with the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA). COSECSA is responsible for the training and credentialing of surgeons in the region where currently there are 0.53 surgeons for every 100,000 population. Our Department of Surgery has joined 12 other academic institutions who have invested in the global solution to build a common global learning environment where sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships can be developed to build surgical workforce capacity in Low and Middle-Income Countries.
Building Global Surgical Care has Reciprocal Benefits
The training partnership between COSECSA, ACS, U.S. Consortium of Academic Global Surgery Programs including our department, and the COSECSA accredited training program at Hawassa University Hospital in Ethiopia has developed a surgical training center of excellence. This site serves as the training hub with local and regional impact with a mission of innovation, clinical research, and patient care.
Reciprocal benefits for a global health surgical training program:
- Surgical care in resource-limited, cost-effective setting
- Creative problem solving, innovation
- Understand rural health care delivery
- Collaborative research
- Creative ideas using mobile technology
- Approaches to low-tech simulation in resource-limited setting
Partnership Contributions
Hawassa University | American College of Surgeons | MCW Department of Surgery |
|
|
|
For more information about this training partnership, visit FACS. To learn more about the Department of Surgery's global surgical efforts, contact Dr. Christopher Dodgion.
Dr. Christopher Dodgion
Global Health Liaison
Medical College of Wisconsin
Department of Surgery
Medical College of Wisconsin Office of Global Health