Boost for surgical skills training

WITS University has launched a new advanced surgical skills laboratory, worth R22 million, to train surgical specialists and sub-specialists in South Africa.

The institution said there was a critical shortage of expert medical specialists in South Africa, including surgeons, and it is estimated that there is a need to double the current number of surgeons to fully meet the country’s needs.

Wits said in addition South Africa has been losing a number of surgical experts to overseas markets due to the lack of sufficient specialised facilities.

“Wits trains more doctors, surgeons, specialists and sub-specialists than any other university in Southern Africa.

“The new R22m Wits advanced surgical skills lab will help to enhance the training of surgeons, across disciplines, in a state-of-the-art environment, with the best equipment available,” the head of Wits gastrointestinal surgery and the clinical head of surgery at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, Professor Damon Bizos, said.

The Wits advanced surgical skills lab was officially opened on Tuesday at the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences building in Parktown.

“If we fail to replenish the pool of surgeons in South Africa, both the training of all South African doctors and the delivery of health care for all will be compromised. The loss of these skills will result in the loss of services in both the private and public sectors. South Africa needs to retain highly skilled and specialised surgeons,” Wits vice-chancellor and principal, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, said.

The university said the lab will cater for interdisciplinary training in surgical disciplines such as general surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology, ear, nose and throat, cardiothoracic, urology, maxillofacial, ophthalmologic, neuro and plastic surgery. The Wits advanced surgical skills lab will include the training of specialists, doctors, nurses and other allied health practitioners.

“The basic and intermediate courses will help inculcate basic surgical competence and skills development, whilst advanced courses will ensure that experienced practitioners remain at the forefront of advances in the field,” Bizos said.

He added that the university will offer access to in-house training as well as industry-sponsored surgical training courses and symposia.

The advanced surgical skills lab includes a large “wet lab”, with eight stations; laparoscopic towers and endoscopy, facilities for training on cadavers, lead-lined walls to accommodate imaging, a new lecture room for 35 participants and full audiovisual

and video conferencing facilities.

“Access to safe, high-quality surgery care remains an ongoing challenge in South Africa and beyond. There is a well-defined unmet need, and the training of surgeons and surgical care providers is an essential component of the strategy to improve surgical care and address the unmet need,” the head of the department of surgery in the faculty of health sciences at Wits University, Professor Martin Smith, said.

“Modern-day approaches to training require that we must address both the technical competency and non-technical skills of the surgeon. This must be achieved in a standardised and measurable way. To do so has meant that we, as the trainers of the next generation of practitioners, must embrace new technologies and training opportunities.”