BGSC NEWSLETTER | FALL 2025 EDITION

Welcome to the Fall 2025 BGSC Newsletter!

This September, we are excited to welcome several 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, featured publications and upcoming events. We are excited to feature news and updates from our academic programs and the Global Surgery Lab in this newsletter.

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.

2025 November Graduation

We are very excited to feature students graduating from the Master of Global Surgical Care (MGSC) in November 2025! 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.

 Mathilde Billau

Huiyu (Anne) Li 

Congratulations on completing your course requirements and graduating in November 2025 from the Master of Global Surgical Care!

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

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NEWS AND UPDATES

 

Engineers in Scrubs Program

 

Do you have an idea for a surgical problem you’ve encountered in a low resource setting globally and are seeking a unique design solution? Engineers in Scrubs is looking for you! Submit your project idea at the link below!

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

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Spotlight: Get to Know Our UBC Work Learn Students! 💡

Since 2017, the Branch for Global Surgical Care has enriched its mission through the UBC Work Learn Program, employing fourteen talented UBC students in roles that blend meaningful work experience with professional development.

These students—hailing from diverse academic and personal backgrounds—have played essential roles in operations, communications, program support, branding, and strategy within BGSC.

We would like to acknowledge and thank all of these students for their contributions. Learn more about them and their impact!

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Kudos and Congratulations! 🎉

Kudos to MGSC/GCGSC Graduate Program Advisor Dr. Faizal Haji on receiving a Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award for outstanding contributions in the areas of research, education and service!

He is also the recipient of the 2025 Educational Community for Medical Education (ECME) Champion Award from the Canadian Association for Medical Education. A big congratulations to Dr. Haji on receiving these distinguished awards!

Congratulations go to Dr. Emilie Joos on receiving the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Innovation and Translational Research Award in 2024 and the the Department of Surgery Clinical Faculty Research Support Award in 2025!

EVENTS AND PUBLICATIONS

BGSC Global Surgery Symposium Day - Spring 2026

We are excited to share that planning is underway for a special symposium to honour the legacy of our founders and to showcase ongoing initiatives and research in global surgical care.

This full-day event will feature presentations and panel discussions with graduate students, members of the Global Surgery Lab, and colleagues engaged in global health and surgical care at UBC, across British Columbia, and around the world.

The symposium will be offered in a hybrid format—held in person in Vancouver, BC, and accessible online for virtual participants.

Details on registration and participation will be shared in upcoming newsletters, as well as on our website and social media. Stay tuned—we look forward to seeing you there!

Publication Features 📰

We’re proud to highlight several recent publications stemming from the work of our students and Global Surgery Lab members.

Dr. Roy Hilzenrat, MGSC alumnus and previous UBC general surgery resident, recently published an article on his work enhancing global thoracic surgery equity.

His article in The American Association for Thoracic Surgery JTCVS Open explores the interest, engagement, and perceived importance of global surgical care among Canadian thoracic surgeons..

He also recently published an article in the Annals of Surgery.This study aimed to achieve international consensus on core learning objectives for global surgery education and was developed through collaboration with 61 experts from 26 countries. The study, which was part of Roy's MGSC SURG 560 project, presents a structured and globally relevant framework—spanning introductory to advanced levels—to guide competency-based curricula and align global surgery training with evolving healthcare priorities.

Also, Dr. Hannah Wild and members of the Global Surgery Lab, have recently published the results of a study in the Journal of Surgical Education, to evaluate the second iteration of the Vital Surgery Training Program (VitalSurg) a task-shifting initiative designed to build local surgical capacity in surgical deserts by training generalist doctors to perform essential procedures. Implemented in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the program has undergone two pilot iterations in South Sudan.

This second iteration reflects a refined curriculum and integrated assessment strategy informed by lessons learned from the first iteration. The study team sought to examine the feasibility, effectiveness, and adaptability of competency-based surgical training embedded within humanitarian clinical care.

Read more about these amazing works on our Publication Features on our website!

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PUBLICATIONS

Hilzenrat, Roy A. et al.Global surgery interest and engagement in Canadian thoracic surgery practice JTCVS Open, Volume 25, 501 - 509 (LINK)

Wild HB, Bednarek OL, van Riswijk H, Poonia K, Simon M, Palet EMM, Salehi M, Letoquart J-P, Joos E, Joharifard S. VitalSurg: Outcomes From a Surgical Task-Shifting Training Program in a Humanitarian Context,Journal of Surgical Education,Volume 82, Issue 9,2025,103592,ISSN 1931-7204,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2025.103592. (LINK)

Hilzenrat, Roy Avraham MD.CM MHSc MGSC FRCSC; Livergant, Rachel MD MBT; Binda, Catherine Joanne MD; Adams, Jayd BSc; Joos, Emilie MD MSc FRCS FACS; Joharifard, Shahrzad MD MPH FRCSC; Chin, Esther MD MGSC FRCSC; Haji, Faizal MD PhD FRCSC; GLOBESURG Collaborators. International Consensus on Global Surgery Learning Objectives and Competencies. Annals of Surgery ():10.1097/SLA.0000000000006905, August 19, 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006905 (LINK)

O'Flynn E, Tolani MA, Joos E, O'Sullivan J, Sharma D, Wren SM, Chavarri AC, Wake PB, Parker AS, Rowles J, Khan L, Mohan SM, Siddiqui SM, Leyva-Alvizo A, Gardner ROE, Nardos R, Fernando Dos Reis Falcão L, Martin C Jr, Basu S, Velis E, Darelli-Anderson AM, Palatella V, Katz A, Silvers R, Papadopoulos H, Gandhe AJ, Khvatova E, Olivo K, Odonkor MN, Biswas A, Vitucci F, Simon L, Perić I, Hofbauer S, Alesawy N, Puyana JC, Ibbotson G. Advancing Open-Access Education for the Surgical Team Worldwide: The Development and Rollout of the United Nations Global Surgery Learning Hub (SURGhub). World J Surg. 2025 Jul;49(7):1700-1707. doi: 10.1002/wjs.12661. Epub 2025 Jun 20. PMID: 40542462; PMCID: PMC12282555. (LINK)

Schneidman, Jillian, Sara B. A. Morel, Vanessa Ross, Natasha G. Caminsky, Jeremy Grushka, and Evan G. Wong. 2025. “Surgical Experiences of Patients From the Circumpolar North: A Scoping Review.” World Journal of Surgery: 1–11. (LINK).

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Canadian Conference on Global Health (LINK) - Halifax, NS and Virtual October 24–28, 2025

  • 31st UBC Dept of Surgery WB and MH Chung Research Day, (LINK) - Virtual and In Person at Vancouver General Hospital, November 3, 2025

  • BGSC Global Surgery Symposium Day - Vancouver, BC and Virtual, Date TBA, Spring 2026

  • Bethune Round Table, 2026 - Georgetown Guyana, and Virtual, October 14 - 18, 2026. Theme: "From training to Transformation: Advancing Surgical care through Global Partnerships and local innovations."

 

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