View source for COSECSA

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox organization
| name         = <small>College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa</small>
| abbreviation = COSECSA
| image        = COSECSA_logo_4.png
| image_size   = 200px
| formation    = {{start date and years ago|December 1999}}
| type         = [[Professional association]]
| headquarters =  ECSA Health Community Building, 157 Olorien, Njiro Road
| location     = [[Arusha]], [[Tanzania]]
| mission      =
| tax_id       =
| status       = [[Non-government organization]]
| employees    =
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| leader_name  = Dr Fualal Jane Odubu of [[Uganda]]
| leader_title = [[President (corporation)|President]]
| leader_name2 =
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| membership   = ~1,000
| language     = English
| website      = [http://www.cosecsa.org/ Homepage]
}}
The '''College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa''' (COSECSA) is an independent body that fosters postgraduate education in surgery and provides surgical training throughout the region of East, Central and Southern [[Africa]]. COSECSA delivers a common surgical training programme with an internationally bench-marked exam and qualification.<ref name="1R">{{cite web|title=COSECSA collaborates to address surgical shortages in sub-Saharan Africa |date=1 May 2018 | url=http://bulletin.facs.org/2018/05/cosecsa-collaborates-to-address-surgical-shortages-in-sub-saharan-africa/ |author=Miliard Debrew |publisher=Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons | access-date=11 January 2019 |location=Chicago}}</ref>
COSECSA is a non-profit making body that currently operates in 14 countries in the sub-Saharan region: [[Botswana]], [[Burundi]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]], [[Malawi]], [[Mozambique]], [[Namibia]], [[Rwanda]], [[South Sudan]], [[Tanzania|Sudan, Tanzania]], [[Uganda]], [[Zambia]] and [[Zimbabwe]].<ref name="1R"/>
== History ==
COSECSA grew out of the Association of Surgeons of East Africa (ASEA). ASEA was formally inaugurated in Nairobi, Kenya on 9 November 1950.  In 1996, in response to perceived inadequacies of surgical training in the region, the ASEA steering committee decided to create the College of Surgeons of East, Central & Southern Africa (COSECSA). These inadequacies were seen to be the limited capacity of university teaching hospitals' surgical training programmes, the increasing difficulty in accessing UK surgical training programmes at that time<ref name="2R">{{cite journal|url=http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?is06100 |title=Training for Overseas Doctors in the UK |journal=Indian Journal of Surgery | volume=68 |issue=6 |date=December 2006 |access-date=11 January 2019 |author1=N. Shrinivasalah |author2=R.R. Yalamuri |format=Letters to the Editor}}</ref> and the variability of training programmes from country to country.
The official inauguration of the College was held in Nairobi in December 1999. In December 2001, at the first annual general meeting in Lusaka, Zambia the council of the college was elected by the foundation fellows.<ref name="3R">{{cite web |date=2019 |url=http://www.cosecsa.org/about/what-we-do/history |title=The History of COSECSA |publisher=College of Surgeons of East & Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) |author=COSECSA |access-date=11 January 2019 |location=Arusha, Tanzania |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726202123/http://www.cosecsa.org/about/what-we-do/history |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Training model ==
COSECSA has been described as a "college without walls." Trainee surgeons undertake their clinical training in accredited hospitals under supervision of an accredited trainer. The academic component of the programme is delivered online, through an e-learning portal, and through workshops held across the region.<ref name="4R">{{cite web|title=Surgery remains 'the neglected stepchild of global health' |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/surgery-remains-the-neglected-stepchild-of-global-health-1.2282262 |date=13 July 2015 |access-date=11 January 2019 |author=Declan J Magee | location=Dublin}}</ref>
== Academic structure ==
COSECSA has two programmes:
(a) Membership: A certificate of competence in surgery at General Medical Officer Grade (minimum 2 years training)<ref name="5R">{{cite web|url=http://www.cosecsa.org/training-exams/membership-college-surgeons-%E2%80%93-mcs-ecsa |title=Membership of the College of Surgeons: MCS (ECSA) |publisher=College of Surgeons of East & Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) |author=COSECSA |
date=2019 |access-date=11 January 2019 |location=Arusha, Tanzania}}</ref> and (b) Fellowship: A specialist qualification in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Urology, Paediatric Surgery, Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology (minimum 5 years training).<ref name="6R">{{cite web|title=Fellowship of the College of Surgeons: FCS (ECSA) |url=http://www.cosecsa.org/fcs | publisher=College of Surgeons of East & Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) |author=COSECSA |access-date=11 January 2019 | location=Arusha, Tanzania}}</ref>
As of December 2016, COSECSA has graduated a cumulative total of 206 Fellows, with another 389 trainees actively training in 60 accredited training hospitals. At that time, there were 973 members and fellows of the college.<ref name="7R">{{cite web| url=http://www.cosecsa.org/sites/default/files/2016%20Annual%20Report-%20Final.pdf |title=The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa: 2016 Annual Report |date=December 2016 | access-date=11 January 2019 |publisher=College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) |author=COSECSA |
location=Arusha, Tanzania}}</ref>
A complete list of current fellows and members is available at this online reference.<ref name="XXR">{{cite web|title=COSECSA Members And Fellows Directory |date=December 2018 |
url=http://www.cosecsa.org/members-fellows-directory | publisher=College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) |author=COSECSA |access-date=13 January 2018 |
location=Arusha, Tanzania}}</ref>
== Partner organisations ==
COSECSA is a founding association of the ''Pan African Association of Surgeons''. The College also has a long-standing collaboration programme with the [[Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland]].<ref name="4R"/>
==See also==
* [[ECSACOP]] - East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians<ref>{{Cite web |title=A NEW COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians (ECSACOP) |url=http://www.southsudanmedicaljournal.com/archive/november-2020/a-new-college-of-physicians-east-central-and-southern-africa-college-of-physicians-ecsacop.html |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=www.southsudanmedicaljournal.com}}</ref>
* [[ECSACOG]] - East, Central and Southern Africa College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.cosecsa.org/ COSECSA Website]
[[Category:Health in Africa]]
[[Category:Medical and health organisations based in Tanzania]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in Tanzania]]