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Congratulations! Dr. Clay Siosi, a PIOA trainee from Solomon Islands has been selected by the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS) /HSE International Reverse Surgery Fellowship review taskforce as the 2020 recipient! The International Reverse Surgery Fellowship was created by the AAHS to sponsor an international hand surgeon’s visits with AAHS member surgeons at their institutions. The goal is to provide expert, hands-on experience so that Clay can return home to improve local care and educate others.

We are pleased to report that 4 out of our 5 final year candidates successfully completed the final exit examination. This was run by independent examiners from Australia and New Zealand. We are grateful to Dr Richard Lander (Chief Examiner) and Dr Sud Rao from New Zealand and Dr Peter Cundy and Dr Andreas Loefler from Australia. The exam followed a similar format to the FRACS examination with 2 written papers, 2 clinical vivas and 3 computer based vivas. Candidates were tested on 45 different scenarios. We are proud of the teamwork and cameraderie shown by our final year candidates as they supported their colleague who was unsuccessful.

The next modules commence on Monday 28 July in Kundiawa, PNG highlands. We are grateful to the Sir Joseph Nombri Memorial Hospital which will host us for the next 3 weeks. The topics to be covered include Knee , Foot & Ankle. We will have 16 trainees do the modules. In addition we will do our second ever exit exam. We have 5 candidates presenting for their final exam. They are Shaun Mauili and Areta Samuelu from Samoa, Mark Rokobuli from Fiji , Alex Munamua and James Tewa’ani from Solomon Islands.

Dr Shaun Mauiliu, PIOA final year trainee performed the first ever TENS nail in Samoa. Shaun learned the technique in 2018 at the PIOA Paediatric module. He has recently received a new NET brand TENS set supplied by Narang Medical Ltd. from India which provides cost effective implants for less developed countries.

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The fracture was redcued closed and the surgery took 30 minutes. Well done Shaun and team. Very proud of you.

Today marks the culmination of a 7 plus year journey for Dr. Stephen Kodovaru from Solomon Islands. Stephen received a Master of Surgery in Orthopaedics from the National University of Samoa in Apia. He is the first graduate of the Pacific Islands Orthopaedic Association training program. He is also the current President of PIOA.

You can read more at
https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/39922

PIOA is pleased to welcome Dr. Juvencio Dias from Timor Leste. He is our first trainee from Timor and is based in Dili. Juvencio is fluent in 6 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Bahasa, Tetun and his local language. He is a quiet but very hardworking student.

PIOA will faciliate supervision visits by Dr. Matthew Sharland who is based close by in Darwin.

PIOA is pleased to welcome Dr. Haynes Rasin our first trainee from the autonomous region of Bougainville in PNG. Haynes is an experienced general surgeon who has worked in Bougainville for many years. Patients with trauma make up a large part of his surgical workload. He was very pleased to be able to take a supply of implants back with him after the course.

PIOA facilitates the provision of high quality, low cost implants from India and China and encourages hospitals to purchase these implants in order to develop local systems that are self reliant rather than relying on constant donors.

PIOA will facilitate a supervisory visit to Haynes after the August module. Dr. Nik Friederich from Switzerland will visit Haynes and help advise him on how he can further develop the orthopaedic service in Buka.

PIOA welcomes Dr. Viola Kokiva from Kavieng in the Islands region of Papua New Guinea(PNG). Viola is our first female trainee. She has recently completed her Part 1 exam in Port Moresby. Viola said she found the first week of the course very hard. By the end of the third week she was glad she persevered and was proud of the new skills she had gained. This included learning microsurgery skills in nerve and artery repair.

Viola was also the recipient of a generous grant from medical students from the UK who have provided her hospital with funding for orthopaedic implants. PIOA facilitates the provision of high quality, low cost implants from India and China and encourages hospitals to purchase these implants in order to develop local systems that are self reliant rather than relying on constant donors. Viola will pay for half the cost of her implants and the grant from Aruni Mathyalakan and her friends in the UK will cover the other half. PIOA is grateful for their generous gift.

Congratulations to Dr. Raymond Saulep, PIOA trainee at Kundiawa for the best surgical paper at the recent combined General Surgeons Australia (GSA) and Pacific Islands Surgeons Association (PISA) conference held in Fiji. The paper is the culmination of many years work by Raymond’s mentor Fr. Jan Jaworski.