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Bridging the Gap Between Surgery and Gastroenterology: Is There a Role for the Medical Officer Endoscopist?
Abstract
Gastrointestinal endoscopy is performed at few institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in low- income countries1. However the number of specialists who can perform these procedures is on the increase, and in Kenya, endoscopic services are available in the cities and some major towns. Medical officers are an integral part of the Kenyan health delivery system and are deployed to even the remotest parts of the country. Here we present retrospectively recorded details of 1919 procedures done by a medical officer resident endoscopy fellow over a two-year period. These included 1792 upper endoscopy procedures and 127 lower endoscopy procedures with low morbidity and mortality. Based on this experience, we suggest the possibility of teaching medical officers to perform diagnostic endoscopy under supervision. We believe that basic diagnostic endoscopy can be safely and reliable performed by a medical officer.
Keywords: Flexible endoscopy, Medical officer, Diagnostic endoscopy,
