The Surgical Training Course aims to translate the lessons learnt in military conflict to the civilian domain while underscoring the wide spread of those affected, from the UK, Algeria and Sri Lanka to Cambodia, Indonesia and beyond.

Training small cohorts of trauma surgeons from landmine-afflicted areas in specialist limb-salvaging techniques, the course is led by Professor (Col) Jon Clasper, who has extensive experience of medically treating blast injury victims. The course organiser, Major Taff Edwards, is a trauma surgeon in the Armed Forces, who recently completed an MD(Res) degree at the Centre that examined the effect of blast explosives on the lower limb.

With financial support from charity Find a Better Way, the inaugural Surgical Training Course took place in July 2016, employing literature, academics and current research streams from the Centre to develop and deliver bespoke training at established wet lab facilities. Here, trauma surgeons from landmine-afflicted areas around the world applied the most advanced surgical methods to their clinical practice. After the course, the surgeons who attended become part of a network, along with their trainers, to ensure continued communication, knowledge development and impact.

Meet the inaugural (2016) cohort and trainers