SURGhub

The UN Global Surgery Learning Hub

We are streamlining learning on global surgery, in one collaborative place - and invite the global surgery community to join us.

Why are we building SURGhub?

“The development of the existing and future surgical care workforce, through training and education, is key”

Surgery for all who need it; when they need it; and wherever they need it. We must strive for this vision if we are to achieve Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery has made it clear that the status quo is not an option: almost one third of the global disease burden is surgical, yet over 5 billion people lack access to safe and affordable surgical care. 

The development of the existing and future surgical care workforce, through training and education, is key to unlocking the enormous potential in low- and middle-income countries to build surgical systems. Innovative training concepts, combined with proven approaches, can help unlock this potential today. The United Nations Global Surgery Learning Hub was launched in June 2023 to address this.

“The Hub serves as a collaborative repository platform for existing and new content on Global Surgery.”

SURGhub serves as a collaborative repository platform for existing and new content on Global Surgery. It is a trusted place for partnering institutions to upload their training content and benefit from larger outreach and a highly user-friendly platform. It is being designed specifically to bring together existing resources on Global Surgery in one single Learning Hub, with the purpose of maximizing the training offer based on the existing and future surgical workforce’s needs.

Many partners have already contributed their courses on the UN Global Surgery Learning Hub, among which: the College of Anaesthesiologists of East, Central and Southern Africa (CANECSA), the Canadian Network for International Surgery (CNIS) , the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA), ecancer, the East, Central, and Southern Africa College of Nursing and Midwifery (ECSACONM), Lifebox, McGill’s Centre for Global Surgery, ReSurge International, Smile Train, the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (WFSA).

Through SURGhub, learners can access surgical, obstetric, nursing, and anaesthesia educational content globally and earn UNITAR certificates of completion. SURGhub is made accessible to users through a UN-based website and a mobile app available on Android or iOS.

A platform by and for the global surgery community

Stakeholder engagement at both institutional and individual level will be key to the success of the platform. This is reflected in the significant opportunities for partner engagement built into the project. Three committees have been established to guide the development and operation of the Hub.

“There are significant opportunities for partner engagement built into the project”

  • The Project Scope Committee is responsible for defining the educational scope of the Hub project - high-level educational aims, target learners and learning objectives. The Project Scope Committee considers how the Hub and content on the Hub interact with academic qualifications and advises on the conceptual framework underpinning the platform layout. Furthermore, the Project Scope Committee will refine the project scope and report on project progress towards meeting the educational aims identified. Terms of Reference

    10 members have been appointed to be part of this committee:

    • Fanus Dreyer: General Surgeon

    • Sara Mohan: Gynaecologist

    • Emilie Joos: Trauma Surgeon

    • Jean O’Sullivan: Emergency Doctor

    • Dhananjaya Sharma: General Surgeon

    • Sherry Wren: General Surgeon

    • Lilian Mwape: Nurse

    • Wieslawa De Pawlikowski Amiel: Plastic Surgeon

    • Pauline Wake: Anaesthetist

    • Francesca Vitucci: Project Team Member

    The Project Scope Committee Members serve for a period of 2 years with the option of renewal based on the consensus of the Committee Members. New seats will therefore be available in 2025.

  • The Content Committee is responsible for ensuring that high-quality and appropriate global surgery education and training content is selected for inclusion in the Hub. The main task of the Content Committee is to create inclusion and exclusion criteria against which pre-existing global surgery e-learning content will be reviewed for potential inclusion in the Hub. Furthermore, the Content Committee reviews content against these criteria and proposes inclusion or exclusion of reviewed content. The Content Committee will refine the content criteria, document decisions made, and report on progress in reviewing proposed content. Terms of Reference

    11 members have been appointed to be part of this committee:

    • Andrea Parker: General Surgeon

    • Jackie Rowles: Nurse Anaesthetist

    • Lubna Kahn: General Surgeon

    • Musliu Adetola Tolani: Urological Surgeon

    • Sabina Siddiqui: Paediatric Surgeon

    • Adolfo Leyva-Alvizo: General Surgeon

    • Rick Gardner: Orthopaedic Surgeon

    • Rahel Nardos: Gynaecologist

    • Luiz Fernando dos Reis Falcão: Anaesthetist

    • Claude Martin Jr: Orthopaedic Surgeon

    • Francesca Vitucci: Project Team Member

    The Content Committee Members serve for a period of 2 years with option of renewal based on the consensus of the Committee Members. New seats will therefore be available in 2025.

  • The Technical Committee is responsible for ensuring that content on the Hub is of an appropriate technical standard and meets legal standards such as copyright. The main task of the Technical Committee is to produce criteria against which pre-existing global surgery e-learning content will be assessed to ensure basic technical and legal standards are met and assess content against those standards. The Technical Committee will continue to refine the criteria as needed and report on the degree to which assessed content is meeting, or not meeting, the standards set. Terms of Reference

    9 members have been appointed to be part of this committee:

    • Somprakas Basu: General Surgeon

    • Emilio Velis: Educationalist

    • Anna Darelli-Anderson: Educationalist

    • Vincenzo Palatella: Information Specialist

    • Andrew Katz: Intellectual Property Lawyer

    • Rebecca Silvers: Pediatric Neurosurgery & Critical Care Nurse Practitioner

    • Harry Papadopoulos: E-learning Expert

    • Advait Ghande: E-learning Expert

    • Francesca Vitucci: Project Team Member

    The Technical Committee Members serve for a period of 2 years with option of renewal based on the consensus of the Committee Members. New seats will therefore be available in 2025.

Project parters

The UN Global Surgery Learning Hub is an initiative by UNITAR & GSF, in partnership with the RCSI Institute of Global Surgery. It is created in association with the Johnson & Johnson Foundation.

SURGhub was first announced by the UN Assistant Secretary-General Nikhil Seth at the event “Surgical Training - Is Digital Tech Here To Stay”.

The full event recording is available here.

Work with us

There are several ways in which your institution can contribute to SURGhub:

  1. Let your networks know about it

  2. Let us know if your institution has e-learning content which you feel would be appropriate to be considered for inclusion on the Hub. You can fill in this survey to suggest new content.

  3. Let us know if you consider that you institution's trainees, members or students may benefit from the content of the Hub.

  4. Any other comments or suggestions on this project are warmly welcomed.

Write to us at info@surghub.org, we are looking forward to hearing from you.