American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Delegation

To the Kingdom of Morocco, October 8-14, 2023

Delegation Leader:

Dr. David H. Livingston, 2021-2022 President, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma

PROFESSIONAL PURPOSE STATEMENT

The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) is pleased to have this opportunity for cultural exchange with the medical community in Morocco. The AAST leadership has expertise in patient care and system development to support trauma and emergent surgical care as well as surgical critical care. The purpose of this visit will be to develop and understanding of the resources currently available to care for these patients, share best practices, and develop opportunities for ongoing collaboration to support trauma education and trauma system development.

This delegation has been developed under the auspices of the Citizen Ambassador program of Cultural Vistas, a US non-profit NGO, with extensive experience in developing counterpart professional exchanges.

The primary objective for this delegation is to gain an understanding and appreciation for Morocco’s Healthcare system, the structure, advances, and challenges in the delivery of trauma services. The following subjects are of particular interest to the delegation. These topics may be further refined to incorporate the specialized interest and expertise of the individual delegates.

• What are the components of the Moroccan Trauma System? Nationally? Regionally? Locally?
• Is there a trauma registry or any resources for collection of data regarding injury care?
• What is the epidemiology of injury in Morocco?
• Phases of Care:
  • Prehospital care:
    • How do injured patients access trauma care?
    • What types of prehospital providers exist and what is their scope of practice and equipment?
  • Inpatient care:
    • What facilities are trauma patients cared for?
    • Are there specialized hospitals (e.g., trauma centers) or do all hospitals care for them?
    • Are there criteria that hospital need to meet to be a trauma center?
    • What types of physicians provide the leadership and oversee the care for trauma patients? Surgeons? Emergency Medicine? Anesthesiologists/Anesthetists?
    • Who provides critical care?
    • Are there shortages of various specialists such as neurosurgeons, orthopedists, etc., to care for the injured?
    • What is the status of emergency general surgical care in Morocco?
    • What is the status of surgical critical care in Morocco?
  • Rehabilitation services:
    • Are there specialized rehabilitation hospitals that care for trauma patients?
    • How can patients access that service?
• Education:
  • What is the level of education/training for your pre-hospital providers?
  • Who provides that education?
  • How is medical education for nurses and physicians in trauma/surgery delivered?
  • What are the perceived needs/gaps for trauma education in Morocco?
  • Is there an office or body within the Ministry of Health charged with oversight of delivery of trauma services in Morocco?
  • Is there any designating authority that inspects or surveys any component of the trauma system?

• Oversight:
  • Is there an office or body within the Ministry of Health charged with oversight of delivery of trauma services in Morocco?
  • Is there any designating authority that inspects or surveys any component of the trauma system?

 

• Public Health/Outreach:
  • Are there any outreach to the general population on trauma with the idea of reducing injury?
  • Are there injury prevention projects?

It is intended that these exchanges will facilitate increased learning for both the host professional and for the U.S. delegation and will offer contributions of international understanding at the career and personal levels for all.

 

Delegation Leadership

David H. Livingston, MD, FACS, Wesley J. Howe Professor of Surgery

Chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery, Rutgers- New Jersey Medical School.

Dr. Livingston is a graduate of Albany Medical College and completed his surgical residency at New York University/Bellevue Medical Center and his fellowship in trauma at the University of Louisville.  Dr. Livingston has served in leadership positions in many organizations including President of the Western Trauma Association (2014) and the current President of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. He is an Associate Member of the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators of the American College of Surgeons. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, a reviewer for the America College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and was a member of the National Quality Forum panel on Trauma Outcomes. He is Chair of the New Jersey State Trauma System Advisory Council. His CV lists over 200 publications and 30 book chapters. He has been funded from numerous sources including the NIH and AHCPR. He has received several honors including The Charles W. Putman Award Distinguished Mentor Award from the Association of Women Surgeons, UMDNJ’s Excellence Award in Patient Care and Exceptional Service Award.

 

About the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma

The premier scholarly organization for surgeons dedicated to the field of trauma and the care of critically ill surgical patients.

The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma was conceived during the meetings of the Western Surgical Association and Southern Surgical Association in December 1937. The 14 founders who were present at one or both of these meetings invited another 68 surgeons to a Founding Members meeting in San Francisco on June 14, 1938, and the first official meeting of the AAST was held in May 1939 in Hot Springs, Virginia.

Since its inception, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma was established to further the study and practice of traumatic surgery in its various departments, in the United States and Canada.

Today, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is the premier academic trauma surgery organization in the United States and has over 1,700 members from 30 countries.

The Association publishes the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open and holds annual scientific meetings designed to exchange knowledge pertaining to current research practice and training in the surgery of trauma and support research studies to investigate new methods of preventing, correcting, and treating traumatic injuries.

Mission Statement

The AAST is dedicated to discovery, dissemination, implementation, and evaluation of knowledge related to acute care surgery (trauma, surgical critical care, and emergency general surgery) by fostering research, education, and professional development in an environment of fellowship and collegiality.