Mobile Pediatric Orthopaedic Education (MoPOEd)

Abstract

Approximately 45% of the population of the developing world is under fifteen years of age1, yet many developing countries have little or no available health care for the treatment of bone, joint, and muscle problems in children. While the World Health Organization and other organizations focus on the eradication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), malaria, and other diseases2 through the development of vaccines and medications, little or no effort has been directed to diseases requiring surgical treatment, which according to one estimate account for 11% of the total global disease burden and a loss of 128 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)3. Weiser et al. estimated that approximately 234 million major surgical procedures are performed worldwide each year, yet the poorest one-third of the world's population undergoes only 3.5% of those procedures4. Gosselin and Heitto estimated that the cost of the surgical procedures performed at a district trauma hospital in Cambodia was $77.40 per DALY averted5. They noted that this was extremely cost-effective when compared with antiretroviral therapy ($350 to $500 per DALY averted). Efforts to improve care for children with orthopaedic problems in the developing world have ranged from lectures and symposia to small private medical missions to the building of individual hospitals by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Many efforts that are focused on “teaching” are single-intervention courses in which experts donate a few days of time giving lectures and then leave. In contrast, medical missions primarily involve “doing” as opposed to teaching. Such a program that brings a group of physicians and surgeons to work for a short period may be more effective than a course, and it may also be able to provide a limited amount of teaching as well as the opportunity to work with local physicians to provide …