The third Basic Surgical Skills Course for Palestinian trainees at Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem concluded on a hot afternoon last week. The major achievement this year was the involvement of senior Palestinian surgeons from West Bank, East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza, in delivering some of the teaching sessions. All the teaching […]
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) team has been here before, yet nothing from past experience can possibly prepare for being swept up by overwhelming excitement of entering the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) on the Mount of Olives, towering over East Jerusalem. AVH is our host again for the third Basic Surgical Skills […]
The basic surgical skills course (BSS) for Palestinian surgical trainees finished today. Throughout the two days of practical sessions it seemed that time acquired an extensile quality: the tasks completed in 48 hours on the Mount of Olives would usually fill a week. The intensity is not only due to the rigour of an arduous […]
This morning we left the peaceful lutheran guesthouse in the grounds of the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) to start set-up for the first day of the basic surgical skills course (BSS) for Palestinian surgical trainees in the hospital. The morning sun was glaring and a haze lingered over distant views of the Dead Sea as […]
The car journey from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem lasts about an hour. There is an enveloping warmth in the air even at 2 am and it is eerily quiet. The UN car is veering into East Jerusalem, up the Mount of Olives, and finally to our destination: Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH). Next week this hospital […]
December 2009 heralded an unexpected start for a surgical course. Our family holiday in Jerusalem and the West Bank was predictable enough: visit the Old City, and to the children’s delight, Bethlehem. Who could have predicted that the antics of our three young children would became a magnet for an ad hoc conversation? Many Palestinians […]
In April this year, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) team travelled to East Jerusalem to oversee the teaching of the Basic Surgical Skills (BSS) course, which has been endorsed by the Edinburgh college for Palestinian surgeons in training. The idea for this project grew its roots back in early 2010, and the scheme is […]