BGSC NEWSLETTER | FALL 2022 EDITION

Welcome to the Fall 2022 Newsletter!

Welcome to the Fall 2022 BGSC newsletter! This September, we are excited to welcome 12 new students in our graduate programs, along with our current students and faculty starting a new academic year. If you wish to be updated on our communities’ work and accomplishments, consider taking a look at our social media accounts!

Read on for the latest news and announcements, faculty and student spotlights, featured publications and upcoming events.

If you have any topics that you would like to see featured in our upcoming newsletters, please let us know at global.surgery@ubc.ca.

2022 November Graduation

We are very excited to feature students graduating from the Master of Global Surgical Care (MGSC) in November 2022! We are looking forward to welcoming this class to the BGSC alumni and to see the amazing work they will do in global surgical care in the future. Congratulations on completing your course requirements and graduating in November 2022 from the Master of Global Surgical Care!

To read more about our November graduates click on the Read More button below.

 

Michelle (Tran) Au

Karina Olivo

Mercedes Pilkington

Cara Weessies

Are you passionate about global surgery? Join the next cohort of our Graduate Certificate in Global Surgical Care (GCGSC) and Master of Global Surgical Care (MGSC).

Our online programs are for interdisciplinary surgical care professionals focused on addressing challenges and contributing to solutions in low-resource settings. We welcome surgical care clinicians, trainees in surgical care, and allied health professionals of all disciplines.

Applications will open on January 10th, 2023. Deadline is June 14th, 2023 (international) and June 21st, 2023 (domestic).

Note that there will be only one intake for 2023/24 academic year in September 2023.

Learn more about our Graduate Certificate in Global Surgical Care (GCGSC) and Master in Global Surgical Care (MGSC) programs.

OUR COMMUNITY

Remembering Dr. Paul Dubord

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of long time member of the Branch, Dr. Paul Dubord MD FRCSC. He passed away on September 5th after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Dubord was a world leader in international eye banking and corneal transplantation. He was recently appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada to recognize his contributions to ophthalmology and for his tireless humanitarian work on the international stage.

Read more about Dr. Dubord's life and contributions by clicking below.

READ ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 Faculty Spotlight

BGSC is excited to welcome several new, accomplished professionals from across different surgical care disciplines to our faculty this year!

  • Jessica Chan (SURG 518)
  • Phyllis Kisa (SURG 510)
  • Doreen Nakku (SURG 512)
  • Lawrence Takeuchi (Global Surgery Elective)

VIEW ANNOUNCEMENT

 

Congratulations Dr. Nadine Caron- Appointee as a Member of the Order of British Columbia

Congratulations to Dr. Nadine Caron, BGSC faculty member and co-instructor of SURG 518 - Surgical Care in Canada’s Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities with Global Comparisons, who has been appointed to the 2022 Order of B.C. in acknowledgment of her outstanding achievements, including being the first general surgeon of First Nations descent in Canada, the first Indigenous female medical school graduate of UBC, and a longtime advocate for equity in the health care system.

Considered the Province’s highest honour, the Order of B.C. recognizes exceptional individuals whose leadership and generous service have enhanced the lives of British Columbians.

VIEW ANNOUNCEMENT

Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Shafique Pirani is one of our instructors for SURG 516: Program Planning and Evaluation in Surgical Care Low Resource Settings.

Dr. Pirani was recently featured by the Department of Orthopedics as part of their four-part EDI Spotlight Series.

 

READ SPOTLIGHT

 

 

BGSC Student Spotlight Series!

We are very excited to have recently launched our Student Spotlight Series featuring our Master Global Surgical Care students!

This series was designed to raise a greater understanding of the diverse profiles and experiences of Branch for Global Surgical Care students. This series will allow alumni, current and prospective students to learn more about our community, the passion behind the students and their road to realizing their goals.

Over the past few months, we have featured 6 MGSC students, and their experiences and accomplishments. Read more by clicking below!

VIEW SPOTLIGHTS

 

NEWS AND UPDATES

Engineers in Scrubs Program

EiS is a specialization in UBC's School of Biomedical Engineering graduate program that trains students to be leaders in medical innovation with a design process that emphasizes impactful translation and collaboration with clinical stakeholders.

BGSC has collaborated with EiS for several years by submitting proposals for clinical problems in low resource settings that may benefit from innovative engineering solutions.

Two MedTech Cafes will be held this fall where clinicians can pitch their ideas to students. See Upcoming Events below.

More information about the program and submitting a proposal can be found on our website.

LEARN MORE

Bethune Roundtable 2022 Summary

 

The Bethune Round Table (BRT) is an annual interdisciplinary meeting aimed at addressing the challenges of providing accessible, high-quality surgical care to marginalized patients in low-resource settings. The Bethune Round Table 2022 took place virtually, June 16 – 19 and was successfully hosted virtually by BGSC, in co-operation with the Canadian Network for International Surgery. The theme for the BRT 2022 was “Decolonizing Global Surgery”.

The conference program consisted of 28 panelists and speakers and 98 abstracts (46 podium presentations and 52 posters) touching upon diverse aspects of global surgery including diversity and inclusion, women in surgery, indigenous health, and sustainability in global partnerships. All sessions were recorded, including abstracts.

The conference platform remains open to registered participants for approximately 6 months, so participants can go back to the virtual platform to review talks about strengthening health infrastructures in under-resourced communities and re-watch something they would like to see again or missed. All podium abstracts were published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery.

A big thank you to the Conference Chair, Dr. Emilie Joos and the planning committee for all of their tireless efforts, bringing together such as diverse and engaging program and for hosting an amazing conference.

Stay tuned for 2023

The University of Toronto will be hosting the Bethune Round Table in 2023, in person from May 27th to 29th at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, ON.

 

CLICK TO READ THE SUMMARY

 

SURG 560 Student Reports

In SURG 560, students complete a field practicum placement grounding their knowledge and skills attained in the other courses of the MGSC. A high-level written report is produced as the final graduating requirement.

MGSC students Mercedes Pilkington and Cara Weessies, recently completed their reports which are now available on our website.

VIEW MORE

Planetary Health Curriculum Update

Health care is a major contributor to global CO2 emissions, on par with the aviation industry. BGSC is committed towards helping reduce the environmental footprint of surgical care worldwide.

Following on the foundation of the work of Advisory Committee member, Dr. Andrea MacNeill, and the UBC Planetary Health Lab, the Global Surgery Lab, in collaboration with BGSC are introducing Planetary Healthcare into our foundational course, SURG 510 - Surgical Care in International Health.

This content will focus on sustainability in healthcare on a global scale, and measures that can be taken to reduce the negative impact of the healthcare system on the environment.

The team reviewed the literature of all relevant articles, as well as podcasts and videos to be incorporated into the course.

Many thanks to Global Surgery Lab members Rosemary Vayalikunnel, Agnes Zanotto Manoel, Poliana Zanotta Manoel and Kayoung Heo for all of their work on this over the summer!

 

PUBLICATIONS

  • Decolonizing Global Surgery. Multiple authors. CAN J SURG Aug 2022, 65 (4 Suppl 1) S1-S18; DOI: 10.1503/cjs.007622 (LINK)

  • Song S, Muhumuza MF, Penny N, Sabatini CS. Epidemiology and treatment outcomes in pediatric patients with post-injection paralysis. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2022 Aug 5;23(1):754. doi: 10.1186/s12891-022-05664-4. PMID: 35932071; PMCID: PMC9354298. (LINK)
  • Livergant, R.J., Demetrick, S., Cravetchi, X. et al. Trauma Training Courses and Programs in Low- and Lower Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review. World J Surg 45, 3543–3557 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-021-06283-1 (LINK)

  • Qin R., Velin, R., Yates, E. F., El Omrani, O., McLeod, E., Tudravu, J., Samad, L., Woodward, A., McClain,C.D. Building sustainable and resilient surgical systems: A narrative review of opportunities to integrate climate change into national surgical planning in the Western Pacific region,The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific,Volume 22,2022,100407,ISSN 2666-6065,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2022.100407. (LINK)
  • Sayegh H, Harden C, Khan H, et al Global health education in high-income countries: confronting coloniality and power asymmetry BMJ Global Health 2022;7:e008501. (LINK)

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Engineers in Scrubs MedTech Cafes - Zoom. 1st and 2nd MedTech Cafe on September 29th and 6th October respectively from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm PST. f you have any questions or would like assistance developing an idea, please reach out to the course instructors directly at EiS@sbme.ubc.ca.

  • SU-CUGH Global Health Conference (LINK) - Virtual Oct 22 - 25, 2022; In-Person Stellenbosch, South Africa Oct 28 - 30, 2022

  • UBC CPD Conference: Climate Emergency: Taking Action on Planetary Health (LINK) - Online, October 29, 2022

  • UBC Dept of Surgery WB and MH Chung Research Day, (LINK) - Virtual and In Person at Vancouver General Hospital, November 7, 2022.

  • 2022 Canadian Conference on Global Health (LINK) - Toronto, ON & Virtual, Nov 21 - 23, 2022, Toronto, ON

  • CUGH 14th Annual Global Conference (LINK) - Washington, DC, April 14 - 16, 2023

  • Bethune Roundtable 2023 - Sustainability in Global Surgery. Toronto, ON & Virtual, May 27 - 29, 2023