International
Education and training in orthopaedic oncology in Ethiopia; CURE & Black Lion COSECSA course Max Gibbons (Co Authors: Duncan Whitwell, David Wood, Flora Gibbons, Biruk Wamisho, Gelataw Tessema and Richard Gardner) The first Orthopaedic Oncology Course was in 2014 at the CURE Ethiopia Children’s Hospital and Tikur Anbessa Specialised Hospital in 2015 and the fourth review course planned for 2021.
I
n 2012 the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) with Oxford University established the first Paediatric Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery Course. The Programme was proposed to improve trauma management in sub-Saharan Africa through education, training and research.
Max Gibbons trained in Oxford and London and is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Specialist in Orthopaedic Oncology and Hip and Knee Surgery at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford. He was awarded a Hunterian Professorship in 2016 by the Royal College of Surgeons of England for research on the surgical treatment of sarcoma. He is involved in surgical training in Africa through the COSECSA Oxford Orthopaedic Link programme.
The link is supported by United Kingdom Department for International Development and is based on British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) and Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) surgical training programmes. The success of the initial course was expanded to provide training courses in paediatric orthopaedics, deformity and in hip and knee arthroplasty with practical sessions.
Figure 1: Delegates Black Lion Hospital 2017.
56 | JTO | Volume 09 | Issue 03 | September 2021 | boa.ac.uk
Orthopaedic surgical training in Ethiopia is developing to meet the increasing demand and surgical needs of young population of 100+m (19yr = median) in paediatric trauma, late bone infection, deformity as well as primary bone tumours. However, with an oncology service now established in Addis Ababa, there is a desire to establish an integrated orthopaedic tumour service and a need to train the next generation of surgeons in treating bone tumours. The surgical management of malignant primary bone tumours in Ethiopia is primarily amputation due to advanced disease at initial presentation, as well as the need for specialist expertise and equipment needed for limb salvage.
