West Africa Trauma Education Program (WATEP)
Eighteen AO Alliance national surgeon faculty from Nigeria gathered in the capital Lagos on November 10-11, 2019 for the WATEP ”“ AO Alliance Faculty Education Program (FEP). The event focused on adult learning principles, improving lecture-giving skills, moderating small group discussions and running practical exercises. Participants benefited from the unique knowledge that made the AO Foundation’s trauma and orthopedic faculty education the best worldwide.
Faculty development plays a key role in helping surgeons become excellent teachers. It also provides opportunities for them to challenge themselves while advancing their careers. Empowering trauma and orthopedic surgeons to translate theory into practice requires the highest quality instruction. AO Alliance’s faculty members not only embrace lifelong learning for themselves but facilitate it for the legions of surgeons who seek to enhance their own knowledge and skills.
The event connected participants from Nigeria over two days, living the AO Alliance spirit, sharing the specifics of trauma care and translating theory into practice.
Narayan Ramachandran (Oman), Seidu Bello, an AOCMF surgeon making his debut as a surgeon educator (Nigeria), and certified AO surgical educator Claude Martin jr. (Switzerland) provided ample feedback to the Nigerian participants as well as one participant from Ghana.
Thanks to the expert lecturers, every detail was considered in the preparation and implementation of the training. Special thanks to the core Nigerian WATEP team and its lead Temiloluwa Olufemi for a successful event.
The West Africa Trauma Education Program aims to improve health outcomes for patients by building longer-term local capacity for injury and fracture care, and sustainably strengthening health systems, including essential surgery. The three-year collaboration with the Johnson & Johnson Foundation provides specialized education and training for national and regional healthcare workers to deliver safe and timely access to care for the injured.
This exceptional collaboration with the Johnson & Johnson Foundation is an important step to addressing the burden of injuries. Having a Nigerian roster of dedicated teachers educating other healthcare workers on better fracture care will bring us closer to people having access to safe, essential, and timely fracture care.