Enhancing Surgical Education Through Mobile Health and Optical Technology

The Republic of Tanzania is experiencing increasing deficits in orthopaedic and musculoskeletal care. Marred by lack of quality surgeon education and training, continuity of patient care, and postoperative rehabilitation, upwards of 50% of patients do not receive the orthopaedic surgical care indicated, and over 30% of patients experience postoperative infections. We have pioneered a unique partnership with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania, to develop a novel and generalizable approach to sustainable telehealth surgical education. Employing modern advances in audiovisual and mobile health (mHealth) technology, we aim to provide orthopaedic surgeons in Tanzania, and potentially other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), continual access to high-quality training and cutting-edge techniques through the development of a virtual orthopaedic surgical library.