New scholar plans surgery exchange programme

  • October 12, 2010
New scholar plans surgery exchange programme

New Gates scholar plans an international surgery exchange programme.

A newly arrived Gates scholar plans to set up an international surgery exchange programme.

Dr Trevor Ellison [2010] is doing an MBA in management at Cambridge this year which he hopes will help him to set up the programme, initially at Johns Hopkins where he is doing his general surgery residency.

The exchange programme he envisages is based on a programme that existed at Johns Hopkins until recently which allowed surgery students to go to Oxford or Dublin for six months in their fourth year. The programme ended two years ago because of changes to the surgery qualifications which meant the number of hours students could work in a week decreased. This meant they could not spare six months abroad to get through the number of cases they needed to qualify.

Dr Ellison wants students to be allowed just one or two months to work abroad before they qualify and approached his chair of surgery who was interested in the idea. He hopes eventually that the model he creates can be used in other universities and create lasting relationships between universities in wealthy areas and developing countries in need of top class surgeons.

“Studies show lots of students are interested in international service these days,” he says. “The problem is you get into a residency programme and you don’t have much time off or money. I think a lot of people would go if there was the facility to do so,” says Dr Ellison.

Full case study

Latest News

Study shows need for repeated vaccines for immunocompromised people

Vaccinations alone may not be enough to protect people with compromised immune systems from infection, even if the vaccine has generated the production of antibodies, according to new research from the University of Cambridge led by a Gates Cambridge Scholar. The findings, published today in Science Advances, suggest that such individuals will need regular vaccine […]

Scholars win recognition for impact and engagement

Two Gates Cambridge Scholars have been recognised in the 2024 Cambridge Awards for Research Impact and Engagement. Stanley Onyemechalu [below right] was runner-up in the Early Career researcher category for his work on the Legacies of Biafra Heritage Project and Emma Houiellebecq was highly commended for her research on  strengthening the resilience of essential services […]

Exploring the origins of snake diversity in South America

“Snakes to me are the most beautiful creatures that exist. They look so simple, but they are so complex. They can glide, swim and burrow. They are so varied. I want people to see how amazing and beautiful snakes are,” says Andrés Alfonso-Rojas [2022]. His love of snakes has fuelled his PhD in Zoology.  Andrés […]

How do we learn languages?

Samuel Weiss-Cowie’s fascination with language learning began at the age of 15 when he started learning Korean. He is now in the third year of his PhD looking at how the brain learns a new language or new words in a native language. He says: “I wanted to see what was happening in the brain […]