In December, 2023, I had the opportunity to travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to participate in an international conference and an education workshop.
I attended the 23rd annual College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) conference. COSECSA is the largest surgical training institution in Sub-Saharan Africa. It delivers a common surgical training program with a common examination and an international recognized surgical qualification.
For this conference, I returned as a board examiner for general surgery. Of the 60 candidates that took the exam during the sessions, 58 passed and graduated the following day. As usual, the graduation ceremony was full of pride from attendees, examiners, family, and graduates. These new graduates represent the future of surgery across the COSECSA regions, and it was, and always is, an honor to play a part in their training.
I was also fortunate to participate in an education workshop sponsored by the ACS H.O.P.E. group. We discussed telemedicine, resident evaluation, and professionalism topics relevant to the group of program directors and surgical educators attending the workshop.
Overall, it was a great trip. We were hosted very generously by our Ethiopian colleagues during the conference, and there were many good opportunities to continue building international partnerships.
Kristin Long, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Endocrine Surgery.