Tanzania Neurosurgery Project: 2012 Mission

 
Neurological Surgery Training Team - 2012              The World Health Organization recommends that all countries have one neurosurgeon for each 100,000 residents, but in Tanzania, the ratio is 1:13,000,000. Many Tanzanians, including thousands of children, die each year from hydrocephalus, encepheloceles, head and spinal trauma and other correctable conditions. There are only three fully trained and qualified neurosurgeons in Tanzania, leaving millions of Tanzanian citizens with no access to basic neurosurgical care.The Cornell Neurosurgery Program focuses on training at Bugando Medical Center in Mwanza, Tanzania, a regional center which serves a population of 14 million people. The program consists of several components and if proven successful in improving patient outcomes, hopes to serve as a model for other hospitals and neurosurgical training programs.The Cornell Neurosurgical team travelled to Bugando this summer on an annual training visit.  Dr. Roger Härtl, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and Chief of Spinal Surgery and Neurotrauma, led the team.  Dr. Härtl and his team train local surgeons to perform basic neurosurgical procedures using locally available equipment and resources. His team also conducted training in the management of neurosurgical disorders and neurosurgical procedures. Providing the highest level of surgical training impacts every other level of care-- nursing, anesthesia, intensive care treatment, general ward care.  As part of Weill Cornell and Weill Bugando training exchange program, Bugando surgeons are selected for a short-term observational fellowship at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. The purpose of this fellowship is to provide motivated surgeons the opportunity to experience first hand high level neurosurgical care. This also greatly facilitates the communication between the Cornell team and the Bugando surgeons, once the surgeon returns to Bugando. Additionally, regular conference calls and Skype conferences are held between the Cornell team and their colleagues in Tanzania in order to discuss challenging cases and patient management at Bugando Medical Center. For more information on the Tanzania program, see our program page. 
Neurological Training Session in Mwanza, Tanzania - July 2012 

Dr. Gerald Daudi recently completed an observational fellowship at Weill Cornell