Improving Surgical Outreach in Palestine: Assessing Goals of Local and Visiting Surgeons.

BACKGROUND: Short-term surgical outreach is often criticized for lack of sustainability and partnership with local collaborators. As global surgical capability increases, there is increased focus on educating local providers. We sought to assess and compare the educational goals of local surgeons in the Palestinian territories with goals of visiting volunteer providers. METHODS: Electronic surveys were sent to Palestinian surgeons and compared with evaluation data collected from Palestine Children's Relief Fund volunteer providers. RESULTS: The response rate was 52% from Palestinian surgeons and 100% from volunteer providers, giving a combined response rate of 83%. Ninety-two percent of Palestinian surgeons desired protected time during each mission trip for formal didactic teaching and 92% learn new techniques best by performing skills on patients with expert surgeons observing and providing feedback. Most respondents requested the addition of case reviews or debriefing sessions after completion of surgical cases. Volunteer providers indicate that 86% of prior mission trips involved training of local surgeons and 100% plan to volunteer with the organization again in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical education is a vital component of any successful outreach program. Adult learning theory emphasizes the necessity of understanding the specific educational needs of participants to foster the most successful learning environment. This survey highlights the value of tailoring surgical specialty outreach to the explicit needs of local providers and patient populations, while also clearly demonstrating the importance of collaboration, feedback, and protected educational didactics as a critical focus of future surgical humanitarian endeavors.

Peripheral ameloblastic fibroma of the maxilla: report of a case and review of the literature.

Peripheral odontogenic lesions are considered to be rare within the classification of odontogenic tumors. Also referred to as extraosseous or soft tissue odontogenic tumors, peripheral odontogenic tumors share the same histopathologic characteristics of their central or intraosseous counterparts. Ameloblastic fibroma is a rare odontogenic tumor that arises from both odontogenic epithelium and connective tissue. Only 2 cases of peripheral ameloblastic fibroma have been reported in the English-language literature, one of which did not show the classic features of an ameloblastic fibroma. In this report, we describe a rare case of a peripheral ameloblastic fibroma in the maxilla of a 3-year-old girl.