Assessing personal contributions in global surgery: By whose yardstick?

Abstract

Over the past 2 decades, interest and involvement in global surgery as an evolving discipline have increased among practitioners and trainees. A demand for formal evaluation of global surgery projects has also increased with demands for outcomes and impact. However, there has been little or no encouragement or requirement for participants to formally assess their personal contribution either to a project or to the discipline itself owing to the volunteer-based nature of those involved. Though participant contribution cannot be easily measured, the experience can be used to foster professional development. We propose that this neglected opportunity be addressed and suggest a framework of intentional reflection and mentorship that can be applied as an integral part of the global surgery experience, from participant selection through debriefing after the experience.