As there is a severe shortage of trained health staff in rural Africa, we try to solve this issue by using doctors and non-physician clinicians (NPC).
Surgical care is the safe provision of preoperative, operative, and post-operative surgical and anaesthesia services. Unfortunately, there are too few surgeons in Africa, and it is unlikely that a modest increase in the number of surgeons and anaesthesiologists will occur. By enabling NPC to do some essential operations, we may increase benefits while lessening harm among populations where the unmet need of surgical care is great.
We train health officers (NPC) in Emergency Obstetrics and Surgery in south Ethiopia. It is a programme for public institutions, and it consists of four months basic training, followed by two months of supervisory visits to their home institutions. The curriculum can be downloaded here. An important part of the project is also to support the rural hospitals and health centres with essential equipment.
You can read more about our training programme and our experiences here.