Just three years ago, the ASA Monitor published our article announcing the launch of the Guyana Overseas Training Program, a new partnership between the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Foundation (CASIEF) and the ASA Committee on Global Humanitarian Outreach (GHO). Since that time, more than 50 volunteers have traveled to Guyana, 10 Guyanese residents have graduated from the two-year diploma program and three from the four-year Master’s in Medicine (residency) program.
The Guyana overseas training program is only the most recent of many overseas educational projects the ASA-GHO has supported or started. It may seem easy to find a site for this kind of program – certainly there are many hospitals in the world that could benefit from volunteer teachers, yes? But it is not that simple. The first crucial thing is to have a local champion of quality anesthesia training and experience. Next,...
