UBC Branch for Global Surgical Care

08/29/2025

🌍 Surgical Equity Milestones: A History Lesson

In July 2025, SS Innovations achieved the world’s first intercontinental robotic cardiac telesurgery. Using the SSi Mantra 3 system, Dr. Sudhir Srivastava performed a complex atrial septal defect closure from Strasbourg, France, while the patient lay more than 4,000 miles away in Indore, India.

This breakthrough shows how telesurgery can transcend borders, offering lifesaving expertise to patients in regions where cardiothoracic specialists are scarce. By proving that high-precision cardiac surgery can be delivered remotely, this milestone marks a step toward democratizing access to advanced surgical care worldwide.

08/28/2025

After a waterskiing accident changed his life, Jeremy Cuttler wants to give back to the teams who saved him. When Montreal lawyer Jeremy Cuttler went waterskiing one summer day in 2018, little did he know how drastically his life was about to change. While out on the lake, Jeremy struck a huge woode...

08/22/2025

🔍 Surgical Equity Milestones: A History Lesson

Between 2021 and 2023, the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) released the most comprehensive Global Workforce Map of anesthesia providers, exposing stark disparities in anesthesia care availability worldwide.

By visualizing where workforce shortages are most acute, the map equips governments, policymakers, and advocacy groups with critical data to strengthen anesthesia services, a cornerstone of safe surgery. It is now a key tool in shaping National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans (NSOAPs) and driving global efforts to close workforce gaps.

Learn more: https://wfsahq.org/resources/workforce-map/

08/15/2025

🔍 Surgical Equity Milestones: A History Lesson

In 2023, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), in partnership with The Global Surgery Foundation and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland(RCSI), launched SURGhub, a global online platform delivering surgical, obstetric, nursing, and anaesthesia training to frontline providers.

By centralizing high-quality, context-appropriate educational materials accessible via web and mobile, SURGhub tackles the shortage of relevant surgical training resources in low-resource settings. The platform empowers healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries with skills and knowledge that strengthen surgical systems and improve patient care.

https://www.surghub.org/

08/08/2025

One week left to apply for an exciting opportunity to apply your skills towards improving access to surgical care globally! Apply by August 13th!

💫 We're hiring! 💫

Are you a UBC student interested in an exciting Work Learn opportunity to apply and build your communications and administration skills?

BGSC is recruiting a student position for the 2025 Summer academic term.

Apply at UBC CareersOnline by August 13th!

https://buff.ly/ZSBTPaO

(Position ID: 974169)

08/08/2025

🔍 Surgical Equity Milestones: A History Lesson

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation or postponement of over 28 million elective surgeries worldwide during just 12 weeks of peak disruption. This unprecedented pause in surgical care highlighted the fragility of global health systems and exacerbated existing disparities—particularly for patients in low-resource settings and those with non-urgent, yet necessary, conditions.

Today, countries continue working to clear surgical backlogs and strengthen systems to ensure more equitable, resilient care in the face of future health crises.

08/02/2025

Today is Emancipation Day, marking the beginnings of the abolition of slavery in Canada in 1834. Celebrate the strength and perseverance of Black and Indigenous communities and reflect on and learn about the dark history of colonialism, segregation, and slavery in Canada.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3GQM7Tu

08/01/2025

🔍 Surgical Equity Milestones: A History Lesson

Since 2016, National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans (NSOAPs) have emerged as transformative tools in global health.

Led by the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC) in partnership with Ministries of Health, NSOAPs mark the first time surgery has been systematically integrated into national health strategies. These government-led plans are reshaping health systems by improving surgical access, quality, and workforce capacity—especially in low-resource settings.

Today, NSOAPs are driving national reforms and bringing surgical equity closer to reality within the broader goal of universal health coverage.

https://www.pgssc.org/national-surgical-planning

07/30/2025

💫 We're hiring! 💫

Are you a UBC student interested in an exciting Work Learn opportunity to apply and build your communications and administration skills?

BGSC is recruiting a student position for the 2025 Summer academic term.

Apply at UBC CareersOnline by August 13th!

https://buff.ly/ZSBTPaO

(Position ID: 974169)

07/25/2025

🔍 Surgical Equity Milestones: A History Lesson

In 2015, the G4 Alliance was founded to advocate for neglected surgical, obstetric, trauma, and anesthesia (SOTA) care worldwide. Representing over 70 organizations across 160+ countries, the Alliance champions access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical care as a global health priority.

By uniting stakeholders from civil society, academia, and healthcare, the G4 Alliance amplifies the voices of underserved communities and drives policy change—laying the groundwork for a future where no one dies from lack of essential surgical care.

07/22/2025

Dr. Hannah Wild and members of the Global Surgery Lab, have recently published the results of a study to evaluate the second iteration of the Vital Surgery Training Program (VitalSurg) a task-shifting initiative designed to build local surgical capacity in surgical deserts by training generalist doctors to perform essential procedures.

Implemented in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the program has undergone 2 pilot iterations in South Sudan. The study team sought to examine the feasibility, effectiveness, and adaptability of competency-based surgical training embedded within humanitarian clinical care.

Read: https://buff.ly/sK66Fh2

07/18/2025

🔍 Surgical Equity Milestones: A History Lesson

In May 2015, the World Health Assembly passed Resolution WHA68.15 — the first global political commitment to recognize surgery and anesthesia as vital to Universal Health Coverage.

This landmark resolution elevated surgical care to a health systems priority, pushing countries—especially in low- and middle-income regions—to integrate surgical and anesthesia services into national plans. Backed by the WHO and global health leaders, WHA68.15 continues to shape policies and investments that bring life-saving surgical care closer to those who need it most.