A major contributor to the surgical access and outcomes deficit experienced by vulnerable populations worldwide is the lack of trained anesthesia clinicians in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists Global Anesthesia Workforce Survey revealed large gaps in both physician and non-physician anesthesia provider density, including 70 countries with a total anesthesia provider number <5 per 100,000 population (Anesth Analg 2017;125:981-90). Closing these gaps will require high-level investment, partnership, and innovation for education capacity in these settings.
The Improving Perioperative Anesthesia Care and Training (ImPACT) Africa program is making strides to close this anesthesia education gap in East Africa. Founded in 2014 by a team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) with a grant from the GE Foundation, the program has focused on four key areas of capacity-building: learning resource development, training educators, health care simulation, and data collection. ImPACT was initially launched...
