ACS Initiates New Academic Global Surgery Fellowship

To meet the challenges associated with a lack of access to surgical care for people in low- and middle-income countries, ACS Operation Giving Back (OGB) and three health systems have established a new Academic Global Surgery Fellowship. Partner institutions include the University of Utah Center for Global Surgery, Salt Lake City, the Program for Global Surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, and Hawassa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ethiopia.

“This fellowship program will provide the next generation of surgeons with the opportunity to directly engage in research and quality improvement work at one of our leading training hubs in Hawassa, Ethiopia,” said Girma Tefera, MD, FACS, Director of ACS OGB. “Fellows will conduct robust research in support of our long-term mission to reduce health disparities and improve the continuum of care for surgical patients.”

Beginning this summer, the fellowship program will accelerate the efforts of the Hawassa Hub—the joint product of ACS and the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa, aimed at improving surgical education and patient access in Ethiopia. This collaborative effort fosters interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary partnerships centered on improving surgical training, research, and education.

Fellows from either the University of Utah or Virginia Commonwealth University will be selected annually for a 1-year appointment. These individuals will facilitate research, conduct educational and QI programs, disseminate results and data, create mentoring relationships, and increase academic output at Hawassa University Hospital. Fellows will travel to Hawassa for 3 to 6 months during the fellowship and will be invited to participate in advocacy campaigns. Their research will be presented at related conferences and documented in a final year-end report.

Read more about the Academic Global Surgery Fellowship.