Education, Training and Advocacy
🇨🇦 Canadian Programs
Mercy Ships and West African College of Surgeons Collaborate to Elevate Surgical and Anesthesia Training in Africa
10/04/2024 - In a landmark collaboration, the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) has granted an accreditation to Mercy Ships’ surgical and anaesthesia training programmes. This partnership reflects the shared commitment of both organisations towards advancing medical education in the region, offering medical trainees unparalleled opportunities to gain specialised qualifications through their experience aboard the international charity’s hospital vessels.
The accreditation covers a raft of specialties including general surgery, oral and maxillofacial/head and neck, orthopaedics, paediatric surgery, plastic surgery, and anesthesia.
Mercy Ships Canada is proud to have played a role in these initiatives by investing in the work of Erin Ugai, Senior Director for ETA who is seconded to Mercy Ships International. Erin said:
“Residents often need to obtain specialist training outside the country but through accreditations like this, they can complement their surgical training by receiving specialist training on our hospital ships in country when Mercy Ships is there delivering surgical care and surgical education."
“Our ships are a great training platform as residents will learn in a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural environment, equipped with the necessary staff, supplies and equipment to provide high-quality surgical care to a patient population that will be relevant to their practice long-term."
“WACS is dedicated to advancing healthcare standards through rigorous certification processes and the development of specialised medical professionals, making this collaboration a critical step in enhancing the medical capabilities of the region.”
With WACS’ endorsement, trainees aboard Mercy Ships’ vessels will have access to accredited surgical training programmes within West Africa. The Global Mercy™ is currently serving in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where it is delivering surgery and training.
Improving the Quality of Medical Care in Africa
Mercy Ships has a mission to increase access to healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa through the deployment of private hospital ships, the Africa Mercy and the Global Mercy.
Mercy Ships works with host nations to strengthen the local healthcare system, while serving the dire and immediate needs of the host country. Mercy Ships provides a variety of training opportunities for medical professionals (surgery, surgery nursing, sterile processing and more), along with curative surgical interventions. Collaborating with qualified local and international partners, Mercy Ships programs offer holistic support to developing countries striving to make healthcare accessible for all.
Location and Need
According to the Lancet Commission for Global Surgery, 5 billion people do not have access to safe, affordable surgical and anesthesia care. In 2010, 16.9 million lives were lost due to surgically treatable conditions. Those living in low and middle income countries, and in particular, Africa, disproportionately experience this need more than wealthier nations. In Africa, there are far less than the 23 physicians and 100 nurses/midwives for every 100,000 people required as a minimum development goal (Source: World Health Organization). However, simply increasing the number of surgeries is not sufficient; enhancing quality of care is critical as well. Training professionals to administer patient-centered services, using simple techniques and processes that save lives is essential to meeting the goal of improved surgical care.
Alignment with Existing Health Development Plans
Many countries and development organizations create their own strategies to improve the healthcare system. Mercy Ships seeks to collaborate and align programmatic activities with these existing efforts. As a result, Mercy Ships becomes part of a broader approach for systemic development.
Strategic Hospital Development
On the national level, Mercy Ships focuses this approach on particular medical facilities located in the partner country. As a hospital ship that provides a model example of a Western/African hospital, the organization is well suited to help boost the capacity at strategic local facilities. Mercy Ships collaborates with the government and other partners to identify which hospitals have the greatest need, will benefit from development efforts and align with existing strategic plans for health system improvement. By focusing on strategic medical facilities, the organization is able to concentrate and coordinate capacity-building efforts during the country engagement.
Transformational Training
Mercy Ships healthcare training programs aim to enhance the standards of care within the surgical ecosystem in partner hospitals or other healthcare institutions. With this objective in mind, the organization has developed practical and relevant healthcare training projects that demonstrate and impart knowledge, skills, and a compassionate, professional attitude to each participant. These training opportunities include structured observation, courses, and mentoring.
Structured observation sessions allow local healthcare professionals to experience a high quality, patient-oriented hospital with the hope they will be inspired by the high standards of care observed. Courses teach specific skills and information on improving standards of care and personal medical practice. Mercy Ships courses utilize a combination of lectures, simulations, and workshops, often in partnership with other internationally renowned organizations. Mentoring projects encourage a personal relationship and trust between the project facilitator and participant, leading to targeted, in-depth clinical teaching for individuals. When possible, Mercy Ships offers a combination of mentoring and courses to various healthcare workers in a particular hospital or specialty unit (for example maxillofacial surgeon, anesthesia provider, OR and ward nurses), creating a Partnership Unit Mentoring Program (PUMP). PUMPs encourage even greater degrees of teamwork, communication and attention to process measures, which improve standards of care and patient safety.
Hope Medical Centre
The project will provide equipment for the Hope Medical Centre in Guinea so they can continue to provide care to the local population, enhance their current services and improve their administrative support system with equipment and technology.
Gamal Medical Simulation Lab
This project aims to support the equipping of a medical simulation space located at the Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry in Guinea. Mercy Ships will purchase and ship the equipment directly to Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry (UGANC) in Guinea.
Nurse Anesthesia
Gamal University’s teaching program for nurse anesthesia students by providing supplies and materials and instructor’s credentials are enhanced.
Sterile Processing
Preventing surgical infection through sterile processing training. We seek to improve sterile processing practices in the countries Mercy Ships serves.