Criteria of The C-CNS-ECSAR WFNS Reference Center

Name of the WFNS Training Centre:

The C-CNS-ECSAR WFNS Reference Center
The College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA): FCS(Neuro)-ECSA

About the Training Center & Program Details:

The Consortium of Collaborative Neurosurgical Sites of Training of the East, Central and Southern African region (C-CNS-ECSAR), comprising key hospitals in the East African region of Sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of training residents locally within the region.

The accredited sites in the region include

• Kenyatta National Hospital and Aga Khan University Hospital (Nairobi, Kenya)
• Mulago Medical Complex (Kampala, Uganda)
• Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania)
• Black Lion Hospital, MCM Hospital, Zweditu Hospital  (Ethiopia)
• Following the successful application of Lusaka Teaching Hospital In Zambia as a COSECSA neurosurgical training site and the application of Kigali University hospital and King Feisal Hospital in Rwanda for similar recognition, it is hoped that trainees from these two countries in the region will also enroll into the program.
• The Queen Elizabeth hospital in Malawi has recently been accredited by the College to commence training within the COSECSA program.
• The sites selected have been able to provide varying levels of training, and hope to eventually become stand-alone training sites that would enable an internationally accredited standard of training As this is presently not the case, residents enrolled in the program, after 1 years training in their base centre, are trained for a further 3 years in hospitals outside their base centre to achieve comprehensive training. The centres to which the trainees go to include Aga Khan University Hospital- Nairobi, in Kenya (Supervisor: Dr Mahmood Qureshi), Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, India,(Supervisor Prof Basant Misra) and centers in the UK (Currently Bristol Royal Infrimary has accepted a COSECSA trainee). Ethiopian trainees go to Bergen University in Norway for their external rotation. Upon return they sit the local COSECSA examination and are eligible to become holders of the regional Fellowship of the College of Surgeons in Neurosurgery [FCS(Neuro)-ECSA}.
  
  Since its inception in 2005 the program had graduated 14 Neurosurgeons in the region (5 Kenyans, 6 Ugandans, 3 Ethiopians). A further 8 candidates are currently enrolled in the program (2 each from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia)
  
  The program along with several in Africa has been evaluated by Dr Peter Black, the previous President of WFNS, and report published in World Neurosurgery. The positive evaluation, ranking the program second to established programs  in South Africa and comparing favorably with others on the continent of Africa, has been an encouraging start to this young program
  In 2012, the training program was accredited as the second WFNS Reference site (Anglophone) in Africa, following in the footsteps of the first (francophone) site in Rabat, Moroocoo in 2006. This has been a boost for the East Central and Southern African Program.

•  At its meeting in Nyon in March 2012, the WFNS approved stipend worth USD 4200/= per resident per annum for two residents in the program. This has been increased to 3 scholarships for the trainees in the program, and the amount to USD 5,400/= per annum 
• In June 2017, in Hannover, the program was approved to induct trainees in the Africa 100 program, launched by Prof Madjid Samii in collaboration with the WFNS. Africa 100 candidates are yet to be inducted for training in this program.

The regional program has to date produced 14 holders of a FCS(Neuro)-ECSA.

This is line with the objective of the regional C-CNS-ECSAR of providing an opportunity for training to young African candidates, within Africa.

All these locally trained candidates will undoubtedly benefit from additional fellowship training at WFNS accredited post graduate centers for period of training in neurosurgical sub-specialties. We look forward to the support of WFNS post graduate centers to further enhance the quality of the FCS-(Neuro)-ECSA graduates in the coming years.
 

Requirements:

The requirements are a Registered Medical degree and successful completion (2 years) of the Membership exam of the College, COSECSA. Holders of an M.Med (surgery) degree or equivalent are exempt from the MCS-ECSA exam. The candidates then may apply to join the 4-year neurosurgical training.

How to Apply:

The prospective candidates need to apply on-line through the College website: www.cosecsa.org.