Medical Students and International Exchanges: An Underappreciated Aspect of Global Surgery

The global burden of surgical diseases is growing, and is not being adequately addressed.1 As a result, Global Surgery is suddenly in the public eye; it is fashionable to establish international electives for students and residents, and to bring foreign students to our hospitals for experiences in the United States. William Harvey traveled to Italy to learn of venous valves from Fabrizio d'Aquapendente, which later led to the discovery of blood circulation.3 William Stewart Halsted visited surgical leaders in Germany and returned home to found modern surgical training residencies at the Johns Hopkins.4 William Osler spent time with Virchow in Berlin and is acknowledged as the father of Internal Medicine.5 Global Surgery has been a valued activity at USUHS for years. Thirty-five years ago, Drs. Norman Rich, Charles Rob, and Leonel Villavicencio, among the first Professors of the Department of Surgery at the USUHS, were all members of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) International Relations Committee. The first exchange program for our medical students came to fruition through the great efforts of Dr. Leonel Villavicencio, who many years ago had graduated, first in his class from the Escuela Medico Militar in Mexico City, and later trained in cardiovascular surgery in Chicago and in Boston, and then became a distinguished cardiovascular surgeon in Mexico. Besides the friends, he had made while in his medical school, he had established a very important reputation in the greater community, and had operated upon many leaders of surgery, government officials, and even movie stars...