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Surgeons gather in Kumasi, Ghana for Nonoperative Fracture Management course


The education and training component of the Youth Fracture Solutions Program for Ghana is well under way, with the second course focusing on
Nonoperative Fracture Management having taken place from April 6 to 8, 2022 in Kumasi, Ghana. The three-day event attracted 47 participants.

Few hospitals in Ghana, other than the four teaching hospitals, offer trauma and orthopedic (T&O) care. For a population of over 30 million, there were only 52 T&O surgeons in 2021.

The AO Alliance developed a needs-based education curriculum that supplements existing formal T&O training that is locally adapted to empower surgeons, trainees, and other healthcare workers to provide timely and appropriate care, with locally available resources, to youth (ages 15-34) ”“ a demographic that is disproportionately affected by injuries.

The objective of the Nonoperative Fracture Management instructional event is to provide doctors and other healthcare workers with treatment principles for basic non-surgical treatment of common fractures, and to enable them to recognize those fractures that need surgical treatment in a specialist unit.

The event consisted of lectures from expert local T&O surgeons, small group discussions, and practical exercises enabling participants to put into practice lessons from the lectures under the supervision of experienced surgeons.

The Youth Fracture Solutions Program for Ghana, co-funded with The Coca-Cola Foundation, will have the long-term impact of increased economic inclusion and community resilience by preventing musculoskeletal (bone and soft tissues) disability among the youth in Ghana.

Photo caption: Course participants partake in a plaster casting practical exercise.