CCEB Seminar: Bethany L. Hedt-Gauthier, PhD

"Surgical Care in Rural Districts Hospitals in Rwanda: Implementation and Operational Research"Assistant Professor Global Health and Social Science Medicine Harvard Medical School   Dr. Hedt-Gauthier was previously based in Rwanda at the National University of Rwanda School of Public Health, where, in addition to carrying out research to improve health care delivery, she taught courses in biostatistics and quantitative research methods and mentored junior faculty to teach these courses in the future.   As of 2015, an estimated 5 billion people do not have access to timely, safe, and affordable surgical and anesthesia care. Challenges for access to surgical services include insufficient human resources and infrastructure in the health sector and financial barriers for the patient. This talk will describe a series of implementation and operational research projects that quantify the successes and gaps in surgical delivery in the rural Rwandan setting. The goal of this research is to advocate for innovative interventions and increased financing for surgery in rural African settings and to train a cadre of health professionals to lead this research in the future.