Global Surgery

The Center for Global Surgery at the University of Utah is the oldest such Center in the United States celebrating ten years in this space. It is a multi-disciplinary center spanning departments across the University of Utah Health campus. The Center is led as a collaborative by department chairs, and envisions a world here safe, effective, and affordable surgical care is accessible to everyone. We advocate for improved access to surgery worldwide, create innovative solutions with measurable impact, and train leaders to solve the most vexing problems in global health. Our goals have always been *strengthening capacity* for delivering surgical care and our partnerships with colleagues in multiple countries, NGOs and governments have been long-standing and high impact. Founded by Dr. Catherine deVries and led by Dr. Ray Price most recently and now by Dr. Sudha Jayaraman, the Center aims to lead in global surgical education, research in a wide variety of academic areas and advocacy at national and global levels. The diverse collaborators engaged with CGS across University of Utah’s Departments and Schools and numerous partnerships with governments, institutions and NGOs are shown below.

The Department of Surgery supports a global surgery fellow annually from the General Surgery residency program to work with CGS faculty. These fellows have engaged in all CGS sites and have contributed to national and international publications and presentations through high-impact work

CGS has created new structured pathways for residents and fellows as well as foreign trainees and faculty ensure academic growth via skill acquisition, mentorship and leadership of projects.

CGS has led the new Emphasis in Global Health Innovation and Technology in the Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation program in collaboration with Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and Center for Medical Innovation (CMI)

CGS Faculty recently launched the inaugural American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academic Global Surgery Fellowship to offer University of Utah surgical residents the opportunity to contribute to a multi-institutional partnership in Hawassa, Ethiopia

CGS Faculty are in process of collaborating with the Indian Health Service to develop a rural-global post-residency training program that ensures our surgical trainees are well-rounded and capable of working within surgical systems domestically and abroad

CGS Faculty are in process of creating a funded global health innovation fellowship in honor of our one of our late Fellows, Dr Jenna Rosenberg Johns, to support GME level trainees who are interested in the intersection of medical innovation and pressing global health problems

Developing the Field of Academic Global Surgery for Learners at all Levels:

CGS Faculty have led the development of this field through immense contributions to major surgical textbooks and peer-reviewed journals and have published an entire textbook on global surgery (see below for selected publications)

CGS Faculty are currently leading the development of universal competencies in academic global surgery in collaboration with the American College of Surgeons and collaborators from several dozen countries who are experts in global surgery, anesthesia and medical education