Cameroon
Situation Report
In much of Africa, there is only one fully trained general surgeon to every million people. Most surgeons are concentrated in the major cities caring for the wealthy and upper-middle classes. Training African surgeons in Africa is the surest way to prepare them for the unique challenges they will face. It improves the likelihood that the surgeons will serve out their years in Africa and provide desperately needed surgeons for this continent that is annually losing more surgeons to the West than it is training.
Our volunteers provide hands-on training as well as lectures to surgical residents who can then serve at Christian hospitals throughout Africa in a way that honors God and provides quality surgical services to the poor.
Our Work
Medical Teams International sent a medical assessment team to Cameroon in 1997. Since 2004, 14 volunteer teams have provided specialty surgical training for resident physicians as well as surgical services for community members.
Future plans
We will send 3 surgical training teams for 2-4 weeks each this year. The teams will train resident physicians through hands-on surgical training, internal medicine residency training and weekly lectures. Their work will increase the capacity of local African physicians to provide quality medical care. Physicians with specialities in family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, ER, general surgery, urology, OB/GYN, orthopedics, plastics, pediatric surgery, anesthesiology, ENT, pathology, radiology, oncology, thoracic surgery among other specialties are needed to volunteer for these teams.
Our Partners
- We work with Mbingo Baptist and Ngaoundere Hospitals in Cameroon. Both hospitals are members of the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS), an association created to address the long-standing shortage of African general surgeons in Africa. The PAACS is affiliated with the Christian Medical and Dental Society of North America and receives financial support from its Committee on International Medical Education (COIMEA). In 2008, Mbingo Hospital piloted the new CIMS program, which is administered by the Cameroon Baptist Convention.
- Banso Baptist Hospital, run by the Cameroon Baptist Convention, is known as one of the best hospitals in Cameroon. It serves an estimated 60,000 patients per year and has a staff of more than 400 people. Medical Teams International sends volunteer medical professionals to serve alongside local health care providers.
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