Educational workshops with graduates of the University of Cape Town Karl Storz Head and Neck Surgery Fellowship Program: a model for collaboration in outreach to developing countries

J J Fagan; J Aswani; J Otiti; V Mushamba; E Liyombo; G Woodson; D Weed; C Zender; K Mannion; J L Netterville; R Wagner; Mark Zafereo

doi:10.1186/s40064-016-3290-2

Educational workshops with graduates of the University of Cape Town Karl Storz Head and Neck Surgery Fellowship Program: a model for collaboration in outreach to developing countries

Springerplus. 2016 Sep 23;5(1):1652. doi: 10.1186/s40064-016-3290-2. eCollection 2016.

Authors

J J Fagan¹, J Aswani², J Otiti³, V Mushamba⁴, E Liyombo⁴, G Woodson⁵, D Weed⁶, C Zender⁷, K Mannion⁸, J L Netterville⁸, R Wagner⁹, Mark Zafereo¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
² Department of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
³ Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
⁵ Springfield, IL USA.
⁶ Department of Otolaryngology, University of Miami, Miami, USA.
⁷ Department of Otolaryngology/ENT Institute, University Hospitals-Case Western Medical Center, Cleveland, OH USA.
⁸ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA.
⁹ Executive Director Global ENT Outreach, Coupeville, WA USA.
¹⁰ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1445, Houston, TX 77030 USA.

Abstract

The University of Cape Town Karl Storz Head and Neck Surgery Fellowship is the only head and neck surgery fellowship in Sub-Saharan Africa. This article briefly describes this fellowship and outlines the experience and ongoing collaborative efforts of members of the American Academy of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery with graduates of this program who are now building head and neck surgery programs in East Africa. This educational collaboration avoids many common pitfalls associated with short-term humanitarian outreach and represents a successful model for international collaborative educational efforts with head and neck surgeons in developing countries in Africa.

Keywords: Africa; Developing countries; Fellowship; Head and neck cancer; Humanitarian; Kenya; Outreach; Rwanda; Subspecialty; Surgery; Tanzania; Training; Uganda.