ENTRUST team Awarded 1st Global Surgery-Focused Seed Grant

By Mohammed Al Kadhim
Program Manager, Global Engagement   

Drs. Dana Lin and Cara Liebert received the first global surgery-focused Seed Grant award through the Center for Innovation in Global Health (CIGH). Of the 43 total proposals, six were designated to Global Surgery (with several others having substantial crossover, such as ophthalmology, maternal care, and anesthesia in pregnancy).   

Drs. Lin and Liebert’s proposal is entitled “Implementation of the ENTRUST Platform for Global Surgical Education and High-Stakes Assessment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.” Traditionally, accrediting bodies such as the American Board of Surgery (ABS) and the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) have evaluated decision-making competence via oral examinations. ENTRUST is an innovative online assessment platform for creating virtual patient simulation case scenarios and objectively assessing surgical decision-making competence. The team will implement the ENTRUST Assessment platform during the COSECSA Examination in November 2022. The aim is to address the global need for accessible evidence-based tools to evaluate competency. 

Other co-investigators from the Department of Surgery are Dr. Sherry Wren, Dr. Amber Trickey, and Dr. James Korndorffer. Drs. Abebe Bekele and Edward F. Melcer are also external co-investigators; Dr. Abebe is Dean of Health Sciences at the University of Global Health Equity in Kigali, Rwanda, and Dr. Melcer is an Assistant Professor at UC Santa Cruz and Director of the Alternative Learning Technologies and Games Lab. 

This funding was made possible by the Department of Surgery and the Global Engagement Program, which sponsored the award through CIGH. 

"We would like to extend our appreciation to all colleagues who submitted proposals for the Global Surgery Seed Grant in its first year; the submissions were competitive, and we appreciate your efforts and the work you are doing," wrote Director of Global Engagement Dr. Thomas Weiser in his announcement.