The Pediatric Anesthesia Training in Africa (PATA) Collaborative aims to improve perioperative care for children by building education capacity for pediatric anesthesia training at teaching hospitals across Africa. PATA’s initial project is the development of a one-year pediatric anesthesia fellowship. Current fellowship sites include Nigeria (National Hospital-Abuja), Uganda (Makerere University-Kampala), Zambia (University of Zambia-Lusaka) and Kenya (University of Nairobi).
With this goal in mind, a two-week intensive “bootcamp” training was held in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2024 kicking off PATA’s third academic year. Eleven fellows attended the bootcamp. The bootcamp was facilitated by the fellowship program directors and numerous at-large PATA faculty members. Thirteen faculty representing seven countries—Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—joined bootcamp in person and several prominent pediatric anesthesiology educators taught virtually. The bootcamp was also used to mentor the Africa-based faculty in education and leadership skills.
The bootcamp laid a strong foundation for the fellowship year by providing didactic and hands-on training on core pediatric anesthesia topics and skills. Highlights included a pediatric regional anesthesia workshop, a point-of-care ultrasound workshop, a difficult airway workshop, and a two-day simulation-based course called Managing Emergencies in Pediatric Anesthesia (MEPA). The bootcamp concluded with each fellow receiving a certificate.
This work is supported by a grant from Smile Train and The ELMA Foundation.