KARACHI: While the need for surgical care has been rapidly increasing in Pakistan, the capacity of the healthcare system has not expanded at the same pace to cater to these needs.

Covid-19 has widened the gap further with financial implications on healthcare system, education and research. That means more people could die from treatable common surgical conditions, warned experts while speaking at the inaugural session of the 6th AKU Annual Surgical Conference, Surgical Education and Training: Developing Standards.

College of Physicians and Surgeons-Pakistan is the main certifying institution for surgeons while public and private teaching hospitals bear the burden of responsibility for surgical education and training.

“Long-term and short-term commitments are needed by the government bodies as well as private sector to address the shortage of trained surgical specialists, non-uniform presence of trained surgeons in urban and rural areas and absence of a centralised structured training body,” said Hammad Ather, professor of surgery at Aga Khan University and the chair of the event organising committee.

“The need of the hour is to make surgical education and training curriculum compatible with national needs and global trends and develop cost-effective systems to produce an adequate number of skilled surgeons,” he added.

Research from the conference was published in a special supplement of the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association.

A study published in the supplement showed that a large proportion of surgical trainees in Pakistan experiences harassment, most frequently verbal and mental, with most cases passing unreported to the administration. Although overall harassment is similarly prevalent among male and female trainees, women are at a greater risk of sexual harassment. Additionally, many surgical trainees also face burnout and depression, which may be associated with certain forms of harassment, such as bullying.

Researchers involved in the study were of the opinion that there is an overwhelming need for trainee surgeon support groups and other policies and interventions targeted at improving the workplace environment for surgical trainees in the country.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2021