Georgia Lydon Reflection – Global Surgery Research and Development in Cape Town

Georgia Lydon was awarded a Center for Global Health Student & Trainee Travel Grant in the spring of 2023 to pursue a project with Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa. View more photos of her project in this Flickr photo gallery.

Thank you to the Medical University of South Carolina Center for Global Health for giving me the opportunity, as a fourth year medical student, to travel to South Africa to promote global health.

I spent most of my time in Cape Town, South Africa, working as a research assistant at Stellenbosch University with Dr. Kathryn Chu. Specifically, I worked on a large Equi-Injury study, which is being conducted in Rwanda, Ghana, and Pakistan. The goal of this project is to identify barriers to health care for people from low- to moderate-income areas. We particularly want to know what type of barriers these folks face when it comes to traumatic injuries.

As soon as I arrived, Dr. Chu quickly put me to work. We hit the ground running and began piloting the Equi-injury study in Tygerberg Hospital, which is the hospital attached to Stellenbosch. While other hospitals also work on the study, Tygerberg was the first to begin implementing the study among patients. My role was to speak with patients everyday about the nature of their injury and how they came to present to our trauma bay.

Some lessons were learned quickly. I was immediately overwhelmed by the volume of traumatic injuries and the lack of necessary resources to adequately treat these patients. I was also humbled by the difficulty I encountered with connecting with patients because of social, cultural, and linguistic differences. I was grateful to have the opportunity to spend a more extended amount of time in Cape Town. Ten weeks allowed me to immerse myself in the community and learn about the specific needs of this patient population. But there were other lessons, too. 

In addition to the Equi-Injury project, I also contributed to colorectal surgery and burn surgery projects. Dr. Chu is at the forefront of global surgery research and is enthusiastic about having medical students participate in the work she is doing. My work with her allowed me to further develop my own clinical research skills and gain experience with publishing papers on an international level. And just months from beginning a general surgery residency, I soaked up all I could from the example she set in terms of a passion and commitment to excellent care for all. She invests so much in her work, but she also took the time to invest in me.

One of my goals for this trip was to pave the way for future medical students and residents to travel to South Africa. Although based in Cape Town, I was able to spend a week in George, which is a coastal city approximately 4.5 hours outside of Cape Town. While in George, I was lucky enough to get in the operating room with Dr. Hugo Stark, the Head of Surgery at George Hospital. I observed hernia repairs, cholecystectomies, mastectomies, colon resections, and more. Many of these cases were performed as open surgeries, as opposed to laparoscopically or robotically, as many are done here at MUSC.

While I am proud of so much that came out of my trip. I think I am most excited that, since my return, MUSC’s surgery department has created an international rotation for residents to travel to South Africa to work with Dr. Stark. I look forward to watching how the relationship between our hospitals continues to grow.

I cannot possibly reflect on all my experiences during my time in South Africa. Between the research and the surgery, there were countless moments that I will cherish for years to come. To live somewhere new and find community among such wonderful people was a wonderful gift, and I cannot fully express my gratitude to MUSC, the surgery department, and the Center for Global Health for allowing me to have this opportunity.