Historically, surgery has been largely omitted from the global public health discourse. However, conditions ranging from injuries to cancer to complications from childbirth comprise a significant and growing proportion of global death and disability, and all require surgical attention. Research done over the last several decades has highlighted the essential role of surgical care in health systems strengthening in resource-poor settings. Nonetheless, surgery still is inaccessible to those who may need it the most: a large portion of the world’s poor. The fellowship was formed in an effort to not only bring to light the growing health, surgical and anesthesia, and economic disparities in low- and middle-income countries, but more importantly, to work closely with local governments and populations, healthcare workers, NGOs, and other individuals and institutions, with an unwavering commitment to strengthen health systems across the globe.
The Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC) is a collaborative effort between the Harvard teaching hospitals, Harvard Medical School/Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Partners In Health. Through the Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowships and research associate positions, it aims to empower surgeons, surgical trainees, and medical students around the world with the skills they need to improve the health of some of the world's most impoverished people through education and training, research, and advocacy.
For details on our fellowship and the application process, please visit PGSSC.ORG