Columbia Office of Global Surgery
Connecting the CUMC community to new opportunities in global surgery

OUR MISSION

Today, over 5 billion people lack access to safe and affordable surgical care. Our goal at the Columbia Office of Global Surgery is to help narrow this gulf, as a means to reduce health disparities and the global burden of disease. 

The mission of the Columbia Office of Global Surgery (COGS) is to promote capacity for safe, sustainable surgical care globally, to connect Columbia health professionals to areas of global surgical need, and to facilitate exchange of knowledge and technical skill.

Our vision is to provide support for bidirectional clinical exchanges (including pre- and post-trip guidance), collaborative research (including education tools, research assistance, and help identifying funding sources) and resident and faculty education.

CORE PRINCIPLES

  1. Sustainable Surgical Care – To promote a systematic approach to surgical care globally through data-driven, sustainable, developmental strategies across surgical sub-specialties.

  2. Global Opportunities – To make available a diverse number of global surgical work and educational opportunities for medical students, residents, allied health professionals, and public health practitioners.

  3. Bidirectional exchange – To promote interdisciplinary and cross-cultural exchange.

  4. Research – To encourage the research and fieldwork of CUMC students and faculty in global surgery topics, which may include:

    • General, Trauma and Emergency Surgery
    • Obstetric, gynecological and maternal surgical care
    • Surgical Critical Care
    • Orthopedic Surgery
    • Urologic Surgery
    • Neurosurgery
    • Other surgical sub-specialties (e.g. Pediatric, Cardiothoracic, Ophthalmologic, Plastic, ENT, OMFS) 
    • Related fields, including Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Emergency Medicine

    • Related topics, such as perioperative care, perioperative care, surgery epidemiology, surgical infrastructure and access to surgical care

  5. Public Health Outreach – To raise awareness of unmet surgical burdens through talks and presentations, and to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration on surgical care as a public health issue.

GET IN TOUCH

The Office of Global Surgery is here to help connect CUMC professionals at all levels to opportunities in global surgery. Ready to get involved or want more information? Contact us at globalsurgery@cumc.columbia.edu, or reach out to our Director, Dr. Beth Hochman.