General Resources
Health Education using Low-Cost Publications.
A free, open access medical library focused on children’s health.
Texts
Pediatric Surgery NaT (Not a Textbook), Written by and for pediatric surgeons, the Pediatric Surgery NaT is a comprehensive reference for the general surgical care of children. An online reference, it is updated regularly and contains learning objectives, images, videos, and links to MOC CME and the medical literature. Discounts for LMIC surgeons are available by contacting APSA.
Paediatric Surgery: A Comprehensive Text for Africa, Edited by GICS members Emmanuel Ameh, Stephen Bickler, Kokila Lakhoo, Ben Nwomeh, and Dan Poenaru. Published in 2010, this comprehensive online text covers classic pediatric surgical problems, but it is unique because the authorship is shared by surgeons in Africa who address problems unique to their continent and offer practical solutions that are available there. Though written for surgeons in Africa, it will prove useful to surgeons elsewhere who are practicing in resource-constrained environments. Published by Global HELP.
Surgical Care for Children: A Guide for Primary Referral Hospitals, by Stephen Bickler and Emmanuel Ameh. This text is intended to be used by doctors at the primary referral hospital, even if they do not have formal training in pediatric surgery, so that care can be quicker and more cost-effective. Link to amazon.com here.
Surgical Care at the District Hospital, by the World Health Organization. Designed for non-specialist clinicians, it describes basic treatment for common problems and emergencies (pdf version downloadable from the WHO).
Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body, the classic text available online.
Surgery and Healing in the Developing World, by Glen Geelhoed. Online text gives practical advice on how to prepare and work in areas of limited resources.
Global Orthopedics – Caring for Musculoskeletal Conditions and Injuries in Austere Settings, Edited by Richard Gosselin, David Spiegel and Michelle Foltz. A unique reference for surgeons working in resource-limited environments–the first sections provide historical background, global public health perspectives of orthopedics, the role of culture, and a broad discussion of clinical topics that orthopedic surgeons rarely deal with in high-resource settings but that affect orthopedic care.
Principles of Reconstructive Surgery in Africa, Edited by Louis Carter. A publication of the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS), available free online.
Surgery for Victims of War, by Chris Giannou and Marco Baldan. Online text with basics of managing war injuries.
EMedicine from WebMD offers online access to a pediatric surgery textbook.
EMedicine from WebMD offers online access to a general surgery textbook.
APSA (American Pediatric Surgical Association) has an extensive online library of common pediatric surgical diseases
Basic Protocols in Paediatrics and Internal Medicine for Resource Limited Settings provides a resource for those encountering comorbidities when operating in LMICs.
Videos
WeBSurg (World Electronic Book of Surgery): Founded by Jacques Marescaux at IRCAD, this website requires free registration for use. This is the largest collection of pediatric minimally invasive videos, as well as interviews with experts, some translated into Spanish and French.
SAGES video library: Free access to website, most videos geared toward adult surgery.
Karl Storz Network1 Video library: Requires free registration to view videos.
Podcasts
Evidence Based Podcasts in Pediatric Surgery includes topics such as Wilms’ Tumour, Neuroblastoma, and Eosophageal Atresia
GlobalCast MD has podcasts in over 25 topics in general pediatric surgery
Safe Surgery Initiatives
Safe Surgery Saves Lives: WHO program to implement Surgical Safety Checklists
Pediatric Surgical Safety Checklist (English)
Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (GIEESC): WHO program to ensure efficacy, safety, and equity in the provision of clinical procedures, particularly at rural hospitals, district hospitals, and primary health care facilities.
Best Practice Guidelines on Emergency Surgical Care in Disaster Situations: Excerpt from WHO manual “Surgical Care at the District Hospital.”
General Information
THET (Tropical Health and Education Trust), based in the UK, aims to improve health services in developing countries through strengthening long-term capacity via Health Links.
International Health Links Manual, by Maia Gedde at THET, provides detailed advice on how to form Health Links (or partnerships), including a sample Memorandum of Understanding, Do’s and Don’ts, and other resources.
Information on Health Links, by GICS member Kokila Lakhoo, provides a summary of types of partnerships and how to develop them (Click here to download pdf file).
Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) standardizes curricula and competencies for global health and facilitates mutual exchange between institutions in rich and poor countries.
The Dramatic Expansion of University Engagement in Global Health, by the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, summarizes recent trends and outlines policy implications.
Sample Memorandum of Understanding. Click here to download pdf file.
Journals
FreeMedicalJournals provides a list of all medical journals that offer free online access.
PubMed Central contains many journals that are immediately accessible for free, some with delayed accessibility; there are links to sites with full-text articles.
BioMed Central provides free open access to certain journals, aimed at increasing access for surgeons in developing countries.
HINARI (Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative) is a WHO program that allows free access to journals, including the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, for surgeons in countries with low income; requires registration to prove eligibility.
AJOL (African Journals On Line) offers free online access to African scholarly journals.
PLOS (Public Library of Science) offers online journals free accessible to anyone in the world.
Amedeo offers online access to medical literature, with access to full-text articles.
The Ptolemy Project allows African surgeons to access the University of Toronto’s electronic library
Pediatric Surgery Update is an electronic newsletter edited by Humberto Lugo Vicente in Puerto Rico, including an online pediatric surgery handbook.
Pediatric Surgery International: Lists contents of each issue, but articles are not free to download.
Journal of Pediatric Surgery: Lists contents of each issue, but articles are not free to download.
European Journal of Pediatric Surgery: Lists contents of each issue, but articles are not free to download.
African Journal of Paediatric Surgery: Lists contents of each issue, but articles are not free to download.
BioMedSearch is a free biomedical literature search database.
BMJ Group offers free access to full-text journals for surgeons in developing countries, but it is unclear how to access this service.
Virtual Health Library (BIREME: Biblioteca Regional de Medicina) includes full-text electronic journals in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
SCIELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online): provides access to full-text electronic journals, in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Directory of Open Access Journals provides free access to full-text scientific journals, including over 300 health sciences journals.
pm3mail (PubMed to email) allows email access to Pubmed, where Internet connections are slow; can also be used to access articles via HINARI.
Trauma
Primary Trauma Care Foundation offers a practical course that standardizes the essentials of trauma care throughout the world; free online course manuals are available in several different languages.
GPAS Prehospital Initiative: Advanced Scoop-and-Run is a course offered to Ugandan taxi drivers and police to encourage safe and rapid transport to local hospitals; Powerpoint of course material has basics of resuscitation for lay responders.
Best Practice Guidelines on Emergency Surgical Care in Disaster Situations, by the World Health Organization.
Guidelines for Essential Trauma Care, by the World Health Organization. An essential document that seeks to address specifics of trauma care but also the development of trauma systems.
ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) is readily available in many countries, but surgeons must apply to offer a course through the American College of Surgeons if criteria are met through the International Promulgation application.
EMST (Early Management of Severe Trauma), adapted from ATLS, is a course offered by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons; not available online.
FAST (Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma): Online powerpoint demonstrating how to perform the exam.
World Wide Wounds: Practical information on how to manage many different types of wounds (www.worldwidewounds.com).
Webinars
Weekly Online Meetings, Surgical Skills Training Centre, University of Capetown, South Africa: Experts join weekly online sessions, with topics in pediatric general surgery, sponsored by WOFAPS. Previous conferences available online.
The Hendren Project: Monthly online colorectal sessions led by Andrea Bischoff and Alberto Pena. Other webinars include topics in reconstructive urology, vascular malformations, giant omphalocoele, and minimally invasive surgery.
GlobalCast MD: Led by pediatric surgeon Todd Ponsky, GlobalCast MD exists to create a low-cost of participation, virtual platform where medical professionals can attend world class medical educational symposia from the comfort of their own home or office and for a fraction of the cost of a live show. Topics in various pediatric subspecialties.
Español
Telesalud is a Colombian website which has many links including teleconsultation, videos, publications, and an atlas of pediatric surgery. (Servicios de Teleconsulta en Dieciséis especialidades médicas, garantizando el acceso a los servicios eficientemente, sin desplazamiento de los pacientes, desde los municipios distantes de las ciudades capitales)
Pediatric Surgery Update contains a list of publications about pediatric surgical diseases, written in Spanish for parents and the non-medical public (Publicaciones de interes sobre cirugia pediatrica, para padres y el publico en general)
PAPS Latino The Pacific Association of Pediatric Surgeons offers a series of recorded video conferences with prominent leaders in the field.
