Background
A hernia is a debilitating surgical condition which could be fatal. Several young lives have been lost needlessly in low and medium income countries (LMIC) due to poor access to surgical treatment. The burden of hernias in low and middle income countries is high but the rate of surgical treatment of the hernias is inadequate to ensure timely treatment for hernia sufferers. A route to increasing the rate of surgical treatment of hernias is to build capacity by training more health professionals in hernia surgery. Operation Hernia has a training programme for doctors in the communities we visit.
We provide structured training in mesh hernia repair and non-mesh repair based on continuous competency assessment. The training is delivered at formal Hernia Training Courses and informally during hernia missions.
Theatre Training of Doctors
Doctor Being Trained
Operation Hernia Training Courses
Operation Hernia runs Hernia Training courses in Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania. The Rwandan course is run from Teaching Hospitals in Kigali (CHUK) and Butare (CHUB) and Rwamagama Hospital. The Ghana course is run from Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. The Ugandan Course is run from St Francis Hospital at Nsambya in Kampala. The training in Tanzania is run from Mwanza and Sengerema Hospital.
COSECSA Hernia Courses
The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa accredited Operation Hernia surgeons as Trainers in hernia surgery in 2016. Operation Hernia has, as at 2019, conducted 4 successful hernia training courses for COSECSA postgraduate residents in Uganda, and 1 Train The Trainer Hernia Course.
COSECSA Residents in Uganda
Trainees Receiving Their Certificates
Training Certificates
All Residents and Trainers are provided with Certificates on successful completion of a Hernia Course.
Shorland Hosking Fellowship in Collaboration With ASiT
Operation Hernia has an ongoing collaboration with ASiT ( Association of Surgeons in Training) in the UK to provide UK senior surgical trainees a Travelling Fellowship to join an Operation Hernia mission to be trained in treating complex hernias. These surgeons would in the future help train doctors in the LMICs.
UK Medical Trainees on Mission
Prof Michael Yeboah Teaching Operation Hernia Session in Ghana
Collaboration with Ghana Hernia Society in Hernia Training Courses in (Sponsored by AGM Petroleum CSR)
Operation Hernia has an ongoing collaboration with the Ghana Hernia Society to organise Hernia Training courses in all the regions of Ghana to train local doctors in mesh and non mesh hernia surgery. These training programmes have been sponsored by AGM Petroleum Ltd in Ghana, under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme which is delivered by Operation Hernia.
Training of Nurses
Operation Hernia Nurses offer training to local nurses on appropriate and safe theatre practice. In addition, Operation Hernia has sponsored nurses from Ghana to train at the University Hospital in Plymouth in the UK. In 2007 CNR International, a Canadian oil company, sponsored 6 Ghana nurses to train in Plymouth. In 2019, Operation Hernia sponsored a senior theatre nurse who works at Ho Teaching Hospital in Ghana, to train in theatre management at the University Teaching Hospital in Plymouth, UK. There are plans to sponsor the training of more nurses in the future.
