The West African College of Surgeons is a professional organization that promotes education, training, examinations and research in surgery in Africa. The college is the first organization to organize surgical subspecialty training in the region.Bode C O, Nwawolo C C, Giwa-Osagie O F. "Surgical education at the West African College of Surgeons. ''World J Surg'' 2008; 32(10): 2162-6. It awards diploma of fellowship in surgery and is one of out of two bodies that accredits institutions to train surgical residents in member countries.

History

The Association of Surgeons of West Africa (ASWA) was established so that West African surgeons could discuss the unique challenges that they faced and foster cooperation among the region's first crop of foreign trained surgeons. It started with 15 representatives across the field of general surgery,

anaesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), a ...

, otorhinolaryngology, obstetrics and gynecology. The first council meeting took place at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

on 3 December 1960. The university hosted the college's first conference the next year. In 1969, ASWA established the West African College of Surgeons with the objective of providing postgraduate surgical training opportunities. The college was to exist side by side with the Association of Surgeons of West Africa. By 1973, the Association of Surgeons of West Africa was dissolved and its funds and responsibilities were shifted to the West African College of Surgeons. In January 1975, the organization became a constituent college of the newly created West African Postgraduate Medical College (WAPMC). The sister institution of the West African College of Surgeons is the

West African College of Physicians The West African College of Physicians is a professional society, founded in 1976, for medical specialists in the West African sub-region. The association promotes postgraduate specialist training, professional curriculum development and fellowsh ...

. Member countries of WACS are not limited to the

West African West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, ...

region, Angola, Cameroun and Congo who are considered to be outside the region have been affiliated with the organization.

Examinations

The schedule towards the award of a fellowship in one the faculties usually took a period of 4–6 years depending on the availability of teachers and the choice of specialty. The program is split into Part I and Part II. The part I exam is conducted after two years of entry into the program and the completion of rotational training in most disciplines of surgery and in accredited institutions. The second examination is conducted two years after the first exam when the candidate has chosen a specialty.

Faculties

The college consists of seven faculties. These include: *Anaesthesia *Dental Surgery *Obstetrics & Gynaecology *Ophthalmology *Otorhinolaryngology *Radiology *Surgery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:West African College of Physicians College and university associations and consortia in Africa