Assignment 000 A –
In this 2000-3000 word assignment you will prepare a case study with respect to a specific surgical condition in a specific low-resource context.
You may decide to use this surgical condition also as the focus or foundation for Assignment #2 on Advocacy.
1. Choose a country or region that would be characterized as a low-resource setting. Defend your choice.
2. Select a specific malady whose management is primarily surgical in that country or region. Present the background of this malady in the context of:
o disease burden:
o available resources for care; and
o impediments to adequate care in this setting.
3. There should be some organization and logical flow to your paper, but the structure is flexible. For example, your paper could be the first step of a Needs Assessment.
4. Consider these questions in your discussion:
o What efforts are being made, nationally and/or internationally, to respond to the gaps in addressing this need?
o What major determinants of health would have to be addressed in the response and to what degree are these determinants being addressed by the efforts being made?
o How could an adequate response integrate into other international health efforts being made in this country or region?
o At this point in your understanding of international surgery, what recommendations would you make to international organizations for future efforts in responding to this need?
Helpful suggestions:
1. Review the Course Overview tab – “Assessments and Participation” page.
2. Disease Control Priorities DCP-3 (http://dcp-3.org/ (Links to an external site.)) may be a good starting point to find examples of surgical procedures contributing to unmet surgical need. You could choose a surgical procedure, or a surgical condition from this list although the list is by no means exhaustive and other valid examples are accepted.
3. The World Health Organization (WHO) web site provides information through its Statistics on Country Overviews and on its Fact Sheets on health parameters. References to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) for countries also reflects on their resource status. These leads will help to appreciate the otherwise vague designation of low-resource setting.
4. Literature searches of journal references can be initiated from the starting point of the country (or region) or the malady.
