NNI and UW-Madison bring world-class neurosurgical education to Bolivian and Paraguayan Residents
Even from a global perspective, the world of neurosurgery is a small community. Within this select group, Dr. Bermans Iskandar, pediatric neurosurgeon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is held in high regard, especially as a teacher. Several neurosurgeons within the Solidarity Bridge community have enjoyed the privilege of being mentored by Dr. Iskandar. The Solidarity Bridge Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute (NNI) was therefore honored when Dr. Iskandar agreed to devote his time and resources to the development of a neurosurgical residency program in collaboration with the neurosurgical communities in Bolivia and Paraguay. The groundwork for this collaborative initiative began in 2019 with UW-Madison expressing an interest in sharing its long experience with international neurosurgical education to benefit residents outside of the United States. The Bolivian and Paraguayan neurosurgical communities were poised for such a program thanks to the NNI’s work providing short-term courses, case exchanges, and surgical assistance in both countries.
Dr. Nirav Patel of UW-Madison provided a lecture on aneurysms for Bolivian and Paraguayan residents and other attendees.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, as the world became adept at using virtual platforms for communication, Dr. Iskandar engaged other UW-Madison faculty and the school’s surgical residents to develop a virtual neurosurgical residency curriculum. Once the program was ready, the NNI would act as the conduit with surgical partners and residents in Bolivia and Paraguay and facilitate cultural and language translation.
The UW-Madison virtual residency program was formally launched in December 2022. So far, UW faculty and alums have offered eight lectures for over sixty Bolivian and Paraguayan residents, medical students, and young doctors. The curriculum covers topics in key neurosurgical subspecialties with pre and post-topic assessments to gauge student comprehension.
Dr. Iskandar shared, “We live in a global world. It is exciting to know that, thanks to modern technology including virtual lectures and hands-on workshops, efforts such as the Solidarity Bridge/ UW program can make a big difference in limiting disparity and providing capable surgeons in low and middle income countries with the opportunity to learn, develop, and function at a world-class level. At the University of Wisconsin, we feel it is the responsibility of those of us fortunate to live in affluent societies to share opportunities with others. In return, we believe that partnering with neurosurgeons from other cultures and backgrounds enriches our perspective and makes us better caregivers. Establishing complex educational programs requires significant resources and infrastructure that exceed the capacity of even the larger individual institutions. Solidarity Bridge is an organization that has significant experience in medical missions and successful partnerships with local administrations and healthcare systems. Accordingly, it provides us with a well-developed structure that can be used to advance our educational mission. Without this support, programs like ours are difficult to sustain long-term.”
The NNI and UW-Madison are working with residency program directors in Bolivia and Paraguay to continue to improve the program by creating more channels of communication, sharing educational resources, and expanding in-person training opportunities. This program is one example of how the NNI is continually strengthening US institutional partnerships to foster greater sharing of academic and clinical resources with the Bolivian and Paraguayan neurosurgical and neurological communities.
Through partnerships and collaborative actions that are measurable and sustainable, the Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute works to build capacity and expertise in Bolivia and Paraguay in order to increase access to safe, affordable and timely health care.
We are committed to alleviating the suffering, death and disability from neurological disorders and injuries that disproportionately impact patients in the countries where we serve.