Establishing Surgical Care Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa for Global Child Health: Insights From Pediatric Cardiac Surgical Capacity-Building Programs in Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire.

Jayoung Park,Jongho Heo,Woong-Han Kim

doi:10.3389/fped.2021.806019

Abstract

The global surgery research team of the JW LEE Center for Global Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, introduced team-based health workforce training programs for pediatric cardiac surgery in Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire. A team-based collaborative capacity-building model was implemented in both countries, and details of the program design and delivery were documented. The research team shared their experiences and identified achievements, lessons, and challenges for cardiac surgical interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Future directions were put forward to advance and strengthen the low-and middle-income countries “Safe Surgery.”

Highlights

At each step of the surgical journey of a patient in a hospital, holistic care cannot be provided unless health professionals have in-depth clinical knowledge and excel in non-technical skills such as teamwork [1]
Medical staff can share the common goals of providing quality care and ensuring a positive health outcome
The importance of teamwork in a hospital setting is well-described; the current understanding of hospital teamwork is exclusive to high-income countries (HICs), and the culture of surgical teamwork has not yet been widely established in low- and middle-income countries [3]

Summary

INTRODUCTION

A surgical team led by Dr Woong-Han Kim of South Korea established a team-based collaborative capacity-building model for developing countries. In response to a request and invitation from the Institute of Cardiology of Abidjan (ICA), which had previously worked with a Korean doctor assigned to Côte d’Ivoire as part of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) medical staff dispatch program in January 2019, the surgical team from Korea visited the ICA and performed nine cardiac surgeries for children with heart disease and four patients with cardiac interventions together with the local medical staff, and ∼50 patients underwent ultrasound examination. While 3D-printed simulator activities were provided for trainee clinical practices, there are still limitations related to not receiving direct hands-on training within the local healthcare setting As a result, it is incumbent on global surgery practitioners to thoroughly find ways to fill the gap, as the online program will continue to exist after the pandemic. This research suggests future directions for a teambased paradigm for pediatric cardiac surgery competence in developing countries

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT