Canada is a well-developed country with strong health outcomes but also has populations with very poor access to perioperative care such as persons with low-income, the homeless and persons living in remote rural locations.

As the national capital, Ottawa is a vibrant cultural city that bridges English & French speaking Canada and provides unique access to the Federal Government as well as many national and international organizations operating in the global health arena.

The GSOGAC - The global surgery, Obstetrics, gynecology & Anesthesiology committee of The Ottawa Hospital is a committee which was formed to organize and deliver events that raise awareness around the mandate of the the global health initiatives of the TOH within these respective departments.

The objectives of this committee is to form functional partnerships with organizations and LMIC sites in collaboration University of Ottawa Internationalization and Global Health Office (IGHO)

• To act as a liaison between IGHO and the partner organizations
• Act as a point of contact to facilitate bilateral exchange of learners (residents and junior faculty) between University of Ottawa departments of Surgery, Anesthesia, and Obstetrics/Gynaecology and academic institutions from LMIC sites

The inaugural chair of this committee is Dr. Fady K Balaa from the Department of Surgery and this committee is represented by Drs. Leo Jeyaraj and Wesley Rajaleelan, who serve as its members-at-large from the Department of Anesthesiology.

The University of Ottawa began a new global health partnership with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania. This partnership will cross over many broad areas – epidemiology, undergraduate and also clinical specialties, including anesthesiology and pain medicine. The overall goal is to collaborate with KCMC to build capacity for education, clinical programs, QI and research. It is anticipated that this will be achieved with in person visits from our faculty (and residents) to Tanzania, for Tanzanian faculty to visit us here in Ottawa, and also for remote/online collaboration. This is a great opportunity to share skills, to learn and to develop a collaborative partnership that will have a real impact in the delivery of healthcare in Tanzania.

Dr Wesley Rajaleelan was the anesthesia representative for an initial delegation to KCMC in November 2022.The Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo) is situated 4 kilometers north of the town of Moshi on the enchanting slopes of the Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Established in 1997 as one of the six constituent colleges of Tumaini University, KCMUCo is affiliated with the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) teaching hospital which serves as a government referral hospital for Northern Tanzania, serving a population of about 15 million people. In November 2022, the Faculty of Medicine from the University of Ottawa signed a MOU with KCMUCo, following a formal partnership assessment process established by the International and Global Health Office (IGHO). The 5-year MOU highlights areas of mutual interest for collaboration in multiple areas of education, research and knowledge transfer, clinical capacity strengthening, and student and faculty exchange. We have bilateral incoming and outgoing faculty mobility from the University of Ottawa to KCMC, Tanzania. The GH fellows will have numerous opportunities to contribute to this program.

Dr Wesley Rajaleelan - Fellowship lead
Dr Leo Jeyaraj - OB anesthesia
Dr Mohamed Eissa - OB anesthesia and POCUS
Dr Tinu Sandhu - Paediatric anesthesiology
Dr Elio Belfiore - OB anesthesia, Simulation and POCUS
Dr Purnima Rao - Simulation and INSPIRE
Dr Dan McIssac - Research methodology

External Faculty

Dr Fady Balaa, University of Ottawa
Dr Wylam Faught, University of Ottawa
Dr Jason McVicar, Kamloops , BC
Dr Dylan Bould, University of Toronto
Dr Mika Hamilton, University of Toronto