Declaration of the Global Surgeon
I believe in Human Rights as the base of all human coexistence and interaction.
I have entered the field of Global Surgery, so that I can use my skills for their procurement regarding patients worldwide, mainly the right to life, bodily integrity and living one’s emotional, cognitive, and physical capacities.
I declare to contribute as practicing surgeon, obstetrician, anesthetist, nurse, allied healthcare professional, administrator, teacher, researcher, epidemiologist, policy maker, economist, or in any other role.
I am guided by a deep sense of justice. Equity as an approximation will guide my work, whose aim is the provision of timely access to safe quality surgery for all, whether in my home country or abroad.
Humility shall be my virtue enabling me to respect my patients, colleagues, and coworkers within their respective culture with all its norms and belief-systems and ensuring a safe clinical practice, ever consciously regarding the limits of my skills and experience.
I will prepare myself not solely regarding the core surgical skills needed in the global clinic but also pertaining to the cultural sensitivity and understanding necessary for practicing medicine in a context outside my ordinary circumstances.
Wherever possible I will happily give proof of my skills within formal accreditation processes of my host country as part of my commitment to my host society’s political, government and legal structures.
In return I will be integrated into the local health care system and local capacity building.
The care I provide will pertain to the ethical principles laid out in the World Medical Association’s Geneva Declaration, and I will always aim for the best medical care and not accept the lowering of standards due to limited resources. I will rather strive to find ways of making the necessary resources available to every patient I treat independent of location.
If, for that purpose, I am involved in equipment procurement, I will see towards sustainability and first and foremost respect the recipients’ needs and wishes as well as the laws and standards of the donor and recipient countries.
Practicing surgery for me includes a critical and honest analysis of my outcomes as well as teaching my peers. In research as well as education I shall always be aware of power dynamics and inequities. True mutuality and dynamic roles of teacher and trainee, supervisor and assistant shall lead my work.
My research will ask questions of relevance for my patients, and results will thus directly benefit those in my care. Research and teaching will always aim to make knowledge universally available and thus also further transnational collegiality.
My dedication to train and mentor the next generation of essential surgeons will not be confined to the places, where surgical capacity is still scarce but also within high income environments.
Stirring awareness of chances and challenges amongst the public and within the profession through advocacy is an essential part of my practice of Global Surgery.
My commitment to equitable surgical care globally will touch the lives of many and come with enormous rewards in terms of fulfillment, insights, and friendships between those sharing the load.
Dr. Bernward Steinhorst for the European Global Surgery Network Advocacy Group