At the beginning of March, I traveled to Hawassa University Hospital in Hawassa, Ethiopia as a part of the American College of Surgeons Health Outreach Program for Equity in Global Surgery (ACS H.O.P.E). ACS H.O.P.E provides surgeons with opportunities to teach and learn from one another to better serve all patients and communities.
This trip was part of a planned Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course. The ATLS program teaches a systematic, concise approach to the care of a trauma patient. I was part of a group of physicians who taught both instructor courses and provider courses. The goal was to educate enough instructors to be able to have the hospital/university independently conduct these courses without relying on foreign instructors. We successfully accomplished this goal, training 11 new instructors and over 20 new providers.
I also spent a significant amount of time in the emergency department with Dr. Andrea Weitz, surgical critical care fellow, doing clinical teaching with the residents on trauma resuscitation, eFAST performance and interpretation and ATLS principles within the confines of the resource-poor environment.
Dr. Miloš Buhavac is an assistant professor in the Division of Acute Care and Regional General Surgery.