COSECSA

College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa
Established December 1999
Address ECSA Health Community Building, 157 Olorien, Njiro Road, Arusha, Tanzania
President Prof Pankaj Jani (Kenya)
Website http://www.cosecsa.org

The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) is an independent body that fosters postgraduate education in surgery and provides surgical training throughout the region of East, Central and Southern Africa.[1] COSECSA delivers a common surgical training programme with a common examination and qualification.

COSECSA is a non-profit making body that currently operates in 12 countries in the sub-Saharan region: Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

History

COSECSA grew out of the Association of Surgeons of East Africa (ASEA). ASEA was formally inaugurated in Nairobi, Kenya on 9 November 1950. In 1996, in response to perceived inadequacies of surgical training in the region, the ASEA steering committee decided to create the College of Surgeons of East, Central & Southern Africa (COSECSA). These inadequacies were seen to be the limited capacity of university teaching hospitals' surgical training programmes, the increasing difficulty in accessing UK surgical training programmes at that time[2] and the variability of training programmes from country to country.

The official inauguration of the College was held in Nairobi in December 1999.[3] In December 2001, at the first annual general meeting in Lusaka, Zambia the council of the college was elected by the foundation fellows.

Training model

COSECSA has been described as a "college without walls." [4]Trainee surgeons undertake their clinical training in accredited hospitals under supervision of an accredited Trainer. The academic component of the programme is delivered online, through a learning portal, and through workshops held throughout the region.

Academic structure

COSECSA has two programmes:

  • The Membership: A certificate of competence in surgery at General Medical Officer Grade (minimum 2 years training).
  • The Fellowship: A specialist qualification in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Urology, Paediatric Surgery, Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery or Otorhinolaryngology (minimum 5 years training).

As of December 2017, COSECSA has graduated 261 specialist surgeons.

Members and fellows

There are over 1,000 Members and Fellows of the college.

Partner organisations

COSECSA has a long-standing collaboration programme with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is a founding association of the Pan African Association of Surgeons.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.cosecsa.org
  2. ↑ "http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?is06100"
  3. ↑ "http://www.health.go.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68"
  4. ↑ "Surgery remains 'the neglected stepchild of global health'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.