The Perceived Effectiveness of a Short-term Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Mission Trip to Kenya

Abstract

Category: Other Introduction/Purpose: Short-term surgical mission trips have become increasingly common, with many benefits seen by the hosts and the visitors when trips are done properly. However, few visitors ever attempt to measure the impact of their visit other than to list the surgeries that were performed. This study was performed to determine the perceived educational impact on orthopaedic attendings and residents of a Kenyan internationally accredited orthopaedic residency program and to determine the hosts’ opinions on the effectiveness of orthopaedic short-term trips. Methods: A survey was developed and distributed to four host attending surgeons and 9 host residents at the beginning of an orthopaedic mission trip. The visitors included four attending orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeons from various US sites, and two orthopaedic surgery residents from one US program. Using a scale from 1-10, with 1 meaning definitely No, and 10 meaning definitely Yes, hosts were asked if they felt there was a need for more foot and ankle training in Kenya. A post-trip survey was distributed to the host attendings and residents to determine perceived competency in five topics of foot and ankle pathology. Results: When hosts were asked if they felt there was a need for more foot and ankle training in Kenya, attendings responded an average 8.3, and residents 9.4. When asked if a short-term trip would improve foot and ankle care for the community, attendings responded 7.8, and residents 7.9. A post-trip survey was completed by one attending and 3 residents to determine their perceived competency in five topics of foot and ankle pathology. Overall, they averaged an increase of +2.0 on the scale in their competency for all topics. The highest increase was with ankle instability and hallux valgus at +3.0, and the lowest increase was with Achilles pathology at +0.75. Conclusion: The survey supported the hypothesis that short-term orthopaedic foot and ankle surgery trips to this program are helpful according to the hosts. Furthermore, understanding the competencies of the hosts can help the visitors develop more impactful teaching by focusing on the topics of need. Further studies such as this should be routinely performed with medical trips to help determine their effectiveness.