Toward a Comprehensive Postgraduate Surgical Training Program in Saudi Arabia

Since the 1960s, Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in developing quality medical human capital by training medical graduates abroad. An estimated annual cost of a residency training of Saudi surgeons in Canada alone is 1.2 million dollars per resident. In a healthcare system that is so dependent on training physicians overseas, it is important to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different training approaches. This talk will provide an overview of my planned dissertation, where I propose to compare the clinical performance of surgeons who were trained in Saudi Arabia and in Canada in terms of measuring clinical outcomes of their patients, such as rates of mortality and readmission. The study will be complemented by a cost-benefit analysis of each training program and perspectives of Saudi surgeons on the training program in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study is to develop recommendations for evaluation of postgraduate medical training policies in Saudi Arabia and propose changes which can positively increase the quality of the training program.