Swiss Medical Teams
The Swiss Medical Team (SMT), founded in 1998, were originally a group of surgeons and anesthesiologists who initially worked exclusively in Mongolia. Thanks to their many years of commitment, they have succeeded in sustainably improving the level of medical care in this huge country. Over the years, the organization has grown and expanded to cover the entire spectrum of perioperative treatment. Unchanged to this day, however, is the transfer of know-how at the center of our efforts.
The members of the Swiss Medical Teams are committed to long-term medical development assistance. The SMTs consist of experienced physicians from various surgical disciplines, anesthesiologists, surgical staff and other specialists from the hospital environment such as medical technicians and computer scientists. They perform unpaid missions in public hospitals in various developing countries, currently in Tanzania, the South Pacific and Tajikistan. There they assess patients, hold consultations and operate together with local colleagues. They impart their know-how practically and theoretically to doctors and nursing staff. During their missions, the members of the SMT also bring medical material such as surgical instruments, consumables and other medical supplies to the partner hospitals. They try to avoid the use of disposable materials as much as possible, as waste disposal is problematic in many of the hospitals where they work.
The management of the SMT attaches great importance to the willingness of its members to work for several years. With the support of the Swiss Society of Surgery, the SMTs also offer young doctors from Switzerland the opportunity to gain medical and cultural experience in developing and emerging countries.
Tajikistan: Is one of the thirty poorest countries, the health care system is particularly affected by the lack of money in all areas. SMTs conduct missions there twice a year for two or three weeks each time. In Dushanbe, our teams focus on highly specialized surgery in pediatrics, visceral and gynecologic oncology, and thoracic surgery. Another team operates in the newly built hospital of Quabadyion, where training can be performed on modern equipment and according to current methods. The team in Khorog, in the mountainous Pamir region, works primarily in primary care in the areas of general surgery, anesthesiology, gynecology and obstetrics, urology and radiology.
Tanzania: The most recent project is based in Tanzania. In March 2015, a first team was active at Kitete Hospital in Tabora. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a Human Development Index of 0.488 (159th rank). Kitete Hospital with its about 350 beds is the reference hospital in the region with a catchment area of about 2.3 million people. The focus of our assistance is on gynecology and obstetrics. In addition to medical training and continuing education, midwives from Switzerland also instruct their colleagues from Tanzania. In addition to simulation courses in complication management, the staff is also taught obstetric ultrasound.
South Pacific: In another project in the South Pacific, a small team has been involved in the training of trauma surgeons in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Orthopedic Association since 2016. A modular training course consists of several specialized modules, each of which is conducted in a hospital in one of the island provinces. Meanwhile, the course is accepted in the form of a master's degree from the University of Samoa.