InciSioN: Developing the Future Generation of Global Surgeons

Abstract

By 2030, an additional 1.27 million surgeons, anaesthesiologists, and obstetricians (SAO) are needed by 2030 to reach the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery's target of 20 SAO providers per 100,000 population. Inclusion of future generations of health workers early in global surgery discussions and interventions is critical to scale-up access to surgical and anaesthesia care and ensure lasting change. InciSioN, the International Student Surgical Network, is an innovative nonprofit organization by and for students, residents, and young doctors around the world. Through advocacy efforts, capacity building, educational events, international research collaboratives, and unique virtual internships, InciSioN contributes to the development of future generations of global SAO across the globe. Since the formal establishment of the organization in 2016, InciSioN has grown to unite over 5000 members in over 75 countries and 31 formally established National Working Groups across all world regions. Through a system of virtual internships, members of the network have contributed to the World Development Indicators surgical data collection 2016 for the World Bank. InciSioN has created the standardized capacity-building curriculum Training Global Surgery Advocates, and established the annual Global Surgery Day on May, 25th as a global awareness day on surgical care around the world. The rapid global expansion of the organization and its increasingly loud voice in the worldwide global surgery discourse highlight the importance of including the future of the OR in global health discussions and shifting existing short-term paradigms to more sustainable, long-term thinking.