Surgery in the Horn of Africa: a 1-year experience of an American-sponsored surgical residency in Eritrea.

OBJECTIVE To describe the 1-year experience of a unique postgraduate medical education program set in Eritrea, a recently war-torn country. DESIGN The Partnership for Eritrea, a cooperative between The George Washington University Medical Center, Physicians for Peace, and the Eritrean Ministry of Health, formed a surgical residency program, launched January 2, 2008, in Asmara, Eritrea, to train native Eritrean surgeons. No prior residency program (to our knowledge) had existed in Eritrea. SETTING Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa. PATIENTS Five Eritrean physicians participated in the surgical residency. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The number of operations performed, length of stay, antibiotic use, and intravenous fluid use. RESULTS The number of operations increased and resource use decreased because of improved and standardized clinical management. CONCLUSIONS The Partnership for Eritrea established a general surgical residency program that improved clinical care in a resource-poor country that previously had lacked postgraduate training. The program experience suggests a model that can be reproduced in other developing countries.