Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun 16:10:1203490.
doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2023.1203490. eCollection 2023.

Surgical training in the Caribbean: The past, the present, and the future

Mark S Newnham  1 , Dilip Dan  2 , Ravi Maharaj  2 , Joseph Martin Plummer  1
Affiliations

Surgical training in the Caribbean: The past, the present, and the future

Mark S Newnham et al. Front Surg. .

Abstract

The six million inhabitants of these diverse English-speaking Caribbean countries are grateful to the University of the West Indies, which has been central in the independent training of surgical specialists in all areas of surgery for the past 50 years. Similar to the per capita income, the quality of surgical care, albeit acceptable, is quite variable throughout the region. Globalization and access to information have revealed that the quality of training and surgical care being delivered can be further improved. Technological advances will perhaps never be on par with higher-income countries, but collaborative ventures with global health partners and institutions can ensure that the people of the region will have appropriately trained surgical doctors and, therefore, the provision of accessible quality care will remain a staple, with even the possibility of income generation. This study reviews the journey of our structured surgical training program delivered in the region and outlines our growth plans.

Keywords: assessment; collaboration; laparoscopy; open surgery; surgical training.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. Fletcher P, McDonald A, McCartney T, Carpenter R. Surgery in Jamaica. Arch Surg. (2003) 138(10):1150–3. 10.1001/archsurg.138.10.1150 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dan D, Naraynsingh V, Cawich S, Jonnalagadda R. The history of laparoscopic general surgery in the Caribbean. W Indian Med J. (2012) 61(4):465. 10.7727/wimj.2012.136. PMID: . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Parker M, Ramdass MJ, Cawich SO, Fa Si Oen P, Rosin D. A historical perspective on the introduction of laparoscopic basic surgical training in the Caribbean and the factors that contribute to sustainability of such training. Int J Surg. (2019) 72(S):6–12. 10.1016/j.ijsu.2019.04.011 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leake PA, Qureshi A, Plummer J, Okrainec A. Minimally invasive surgical training in the Caribbean – a survey of general surgical residents and their trainers. W Indian Med J. (2012) 61(7):708–15. PMID: - PubMed
    1. Ramdass MJ. Development of basic surgical skills course in the West Indies. W Indian Med J. (2021) 69(4):183–4.