Pictured above (L to R): Participating UCSF Faculty included Drs. Michael Terry, John Rose, Nicolas Lee, Theodore Miclau.
The 5th Annual Mexico SMART Course was held in Oaxaca from January 9-10, 2026, in collaboration with the Mexican Orthopaedic Society, FEMECOT (Federación Mexicana de Colegios de Ortopedia y Traumatología). The course was led by orthopaedic and plastic surgeons from Mexico and the United States.
Twenty orthopaedic surgeons attended the course, which included didactics, case discussions, and a bioskills lab. Free, supplementary course material and surgical videos are accessible through IGOT's Online Learning Portal.
About Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology (IGOT):
Founded in 2006 by the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery faculty and residents, IGOT has continued its commitment of addressing global disparities in orthopaedic trauma care.
IGOT is recognized as one of the leading academic and global outreach initiatives in the field of orthopaedic trauma. IGOT’s goal is to improve patient care in under-resourced environments through sustainable programs with regional academic partners.
IGOT empowers through education, engaging a sustainable academic-to-academic partnership model with low and middle-income countries.
About SMART:
The IGOT SMART Course model is an innovative approach to address the global disparity in orthopaedic trauma care.
The SMART course provides orthopaedic surgeons in resource-limited settings with the skills and knowledge to successfully perform surgeries to reduce the incidence of amputations.
Each surgeon attending a SMART Course trains 3-5 surgeons creating a ripple effect of education within low-income countries.
Surgeons completing the SMART Course have a 93% success rate in treating patients with post-traumatic limb-threatening conditions.
Our in-country SMART courses have trained thousands of surgeons. This initiative has been amplified through our digital learning platform, including bi-monthly webinars and our groundbreaking IGOT Portal.
