In partnership with IGOT and SIGN Fracture Care, IGOT's flagship 15th Annual San Francisco Surgical Management and Reconstructive Training (SMART) Course brought together 34 participants from over 20 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for an impactful week of learning, collaboration, and hands-on training. Focused on managing open fractures, flaps, and limb deformities, the course also featured specialty streams in pediatric orthopaedics, arthroplasty, and arthroscopy - delivered through engaging didactics, case discussions, and hands-on Bioskills labs. We are grateful to the 10 UCSF faculty members from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the three faculty members from the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, as well as to the participants who shared their knowledge and contributed to the course's success.
About Institute for Global Orthopedics and Traumatology (IGOT):
For nearly two decades, Institute for Global Orthopedics and Traumatology (IGOT) has worked to eradicate the unnecessary loss of limb function by increasing the number of surgeons who can provide vital orthopaedic care in the regions that need it the most.
About the IGOT SMART Course:
The SMART course model is an innovative approach to address the global disparity in orthopaedic trauma care that 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.