IFSC was pleased to sponsor two International Cambridge Anastomosis Workshops in Zambia last month making a total of 8 similar training events partnered with the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa held in sub-Saharan Africa in just over two years.
The first port of call was the Lusaka University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and then auspiciously, on Friday 13, the UK Faculty travelled for six hours by car up the Great North Road to the Copper Belt where the second Workshop was held at the Kitwe Teaching Hospital.
Lusaka
Having touched down on Zambian soil on Sunday afternoon 8 April, the Faculty of four retired surgeons who have worked together in Africa over many years went straight into running the one day Train the Trainers (TTT) Course next morning at LUTH. Four trainers had signed up for the TTT which involves committing to also attend the Anastomosis Workshop which ran from Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 April. This is crucial for sustainability and by the end of the 3 days the Trainers were successfully running the Workshop themselves.
Registration for the 12 trainees was held, as usual, on the afternoon of the TTT Course. This process involves completion of pre Workshop MCQ’s, experience and confidence forms and concludes with the trainees joining the trainers to hear the WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives lecture.
On Tuesday morning everyone was present and ready to start the 3 day Anastomosis Workshop on time!. At the end of each day all trainee’s completed daily feedback forms with an overall evaluation form plus post Workshop MCQ’s and confidence forms at the end of the final day. The trainers also completed a feedback form on the one day course pre workshop together with an overall evaluation of the Workshop itself. Each day they attend a debriefing with Faculty to discuss any problem areas and in particular whether any trainees were struggling to keep up.
Kitwe
At the Teaching Hospital the process was repeated in exactly the same well tested format with the TTT held on Saturday 14 April. On Sunday 15 April the UK Faculty enjoyed a welcome rest day with a visit to the Nsobe Game Camp. En route they were able to visit the Dag Hammarskjold National Monument; the site of a plane crash where, to this day, the actual cause of the disaster remains a mystery.
The Kitwe Anastomosis Workshop ran from Monday 16 to Wednesday 18th April. The training went extremely well and exactly the same data as in Lusaka was collected.
All trainers and trainees obtained their Certificates of Satisfactory Completion. The Kitwe trainers plan to run their first standalone Workshop in the near future. It is rewarding to see such a positive response. Sustainability is key to all our training events. It is fantastic that a dedicated cadre of surgeons will be picking up the baton and continuing to deliver this Workshop in both Kitwe and Lusaka.
Pre and post Workshop data, together with daily feedback on all modules covered over three days for both Workshops will be included in our report.
If you would like to see a copy do please email us at:- info@theifsc.org
The UK Faculty comprised Bob Lane, Clive Quick, Paul Gartell and Russell Lock.
And to get an idea of what this training is all about please see examples of a TTT flier (Lusaka) and the Anastomosis Workshop (Kitwe) here.