Dr John Swinnen is a vascular surgeon based at Westmead Hospital. Over his 35-year long career as a surgeon, he has had field placements with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Yemen, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most recently he spent time at Al-Shifa Hospital in Palestine, operating on trauma patients from the conflict in the Gaza strip. Although a vascular surgeon by training, he also performs general orthopaedic and burns-plastic surgery in the field. He will share stories from his career in humanitarian surgery and discuss the challenges of operating in under-resourced hospitals facing adverse circumstances.
We will also hear from Dr Darryl Stellmach, a medical anthropologist who previously worked as an in-field emergency manager with MSF for over a decade. He went on to complete a Doctoral thesis with the University of Oxford, which focused on dealing with large-scale medical and nutritional humanitarian crisis. He is now a Post-doctoral Associate with the University of Sydney, and also works with the public health research group for MSF-UK. He will provide his perspective on humanitarian surgery in terms of the social, moral and practical implications of such work.
This joint event promises to bring an intriguing and engaging event for those with an interest in surgery and humanitarian work. Light refreshments will also be provided on the night.
Event Details:
Date: Tuesday 1st of May, 2018
Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm
Venue: New Law School Lecture Theatre 106