Safe Surgical Care: Strategies During a Pandemic

This course aims to inform surgical teams of the risk during pandemics, prepare them to respond appropriately, give them tools to ensure their safety, build pathways to maintain specific surgical services and anticipate and mitigate long-term impacts. When appropriate, real-life case studies and clinical examples are provided. Examples and case studies are drawn from the ongoing SARS-CoV2 pandemic, but also from past events like the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Where possible, relevant discussion of implications to low versus high resource settings is integrated into the course material. Course features include clinician interviews highlighting different aspects of surgical care during a pandemic, interactive quizzes, case studies, video lectures, and curated resources.

Target audience:

Healthcare providers involved in the delivery of surgical care in both high and low resource settings, including, but not limited to: surgeons (all specialties), anesthesiologists, physicians with surgical skills (family physicians, clinical and medical officers), surgery and anesthesia trainees, operating room (OR) nurses, operating room (OR) technicians, respiratory therapists, perfusionists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists.

Format:

This course is delivered in an online format over 5 weeks and can be completed at the surgical provider's own pace. The instructors are available on an ad hoc basis through email, but may take some time to respond given responsibilities for provision of clinical care. It is expected to take approximately 3-4 hours per module to review all the material, depending on time spent on additional readings.

• MODULE 1: WHAT A SURGEON SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PANDEMICS
• MODULE 2: SURGICAL SURGE RESPONSE FOR PANDEMICS
• MODULE 3: PROTECTION OF SURGICAL HEALTHCARE WORKERS
• MODULE 4: DEFINING AND MAINTAINING ESSENTIAL SERVICES
• MODULE 5: GLOBAL IMPACT AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Apply principles of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of pandemics when deciding on provision of surgical care services
• Recognize the implications of the relevant factors related to the infectious organism: mode of transmission, incubation period, symptomatology
• Plan the approach to generation of a surge response to a pandemic in both high and low resource settings
• Create an appropriate protocol for protection of healthcare workers
• Design pathways for maintenance of access to specific essential surgical services
• Identify the relevant local, national and international key actors in the pandemic response
• Demonstrate leadership in the surgical response to pandemics
• Develop processes of care to mitigate consequences of pandemics on surgical systems

Free

20.0 Mainpro+/MOC Section 3

https://www.edx.org/course/surgical-care-protocols-for-covid-19-patients

The Division of Continuing Professional Development, University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine (UBC CPD) is fully accredited by the Continuing Medical Education Accreditation Committee (CACME) to provide CPD credits for physicians. This activity is an Accredited Self-Assessment Program (Section 3) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program (MOC) of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and approved by UBC CPD. You may claim a maximum of 20.00 hours (credits are automatically calculated). This one-credit-per-hour Assessment program meets the certification criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and has been certified by UBC CPD for up to 20.00 Mainpro+®️ credits. Each physician should claim only those credits accrued through participation in the activity.