BAPRAS prepares for launch of overseas reconstructive surgery foundation

27th November 2011

 

The Overseas Service and Training Committee (OSTC) of BAPRAS is set to launch a foundation for overseas development: the British Foundation for International Reconstructive Surgery and Training (BFIRST).

The Foundation will be ready to launch early next year, under BAPRAS's auspices but with a separate board of directors, which will include BAPRAS council members and OSTC members.

The aim of the Foundation is to be able to fundraise for overseas projects: to support existing projects and start new projects. OSTC - through its grants programme - has already helped educators in Nepal to develop a curriculum in plastic surgery and plans to invite plastic surgeons to teach courses and provide hands-on local training there. Similarly, there are developments in Uganda with the support of the OSTC.

This year the OSTC has arranged Fellowships for surgeons from Iraq, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Sudan to units all over the UK, which has enabled these surgeons to take home new ideas and techniques.

In order to make overseas work more visible, the OSTC has been busy presenting at national and international meetings on their overseas involvement in emergency situations and sustainable projects.

The latest reconstructive surgery project was developed in conjunction with ReSurge Africa and took place in Sierra Leone, focussing on upper limb surgery in conjunction with the British Society for Surgery of the Hand.

It has been a busy 2011. With the launch of BFIRST, it should be a very exciting 2012.

Barbara Jemec
Chair, BAPRAS Overseas Service & Training Committee

 

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