Building Colorectal Surgery Capacity in Ghana: Reflections from the Kumasi CRS Workshop

On April 15, 2025, we convened a one-day Colorectal Surgery (CRS) Educational
Workshop in Kumasi, Ghana, bringing together general surgeons from across the
Ashanti and surrounding regions for focused, practical training in colorectal care.
The workshop was held at the Miklin Hotel, in partnership with leadership and
faculty from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
This workshop was born out of a simple but urgent reality: while the burden of
colorectal disease—including colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and
complex anorectal conditions—is steadily rising in Ghana, access to formally
trained colorectal surgeons remains extremely limited. Many general surgeons are
already providing this care, often with minimal exposure during training and few
opportunities for continuing education in this subspecialty.
Our goal was not to create experts in a single day—but to meet surgeons where
they are, strengthen foundational knowledge, share practical approaches that can
be implemented immediately, and build a growing community of practice around
colorectal care.

Workshop Focus and Agenda

The agenda was intentionally designed to be high-yield, clinically relevant, and
grounded in real-world constraints faced by surgeons practicing in resource
limited settings.

Key content areas included:

• Evaluation and Management of Colorectal Cancer
  • Epidemiology and presentation of colorectal cancer in Ghana
  • Approaches to staging and decision-making when diagnostic
    resources are limited
  • Surgical management of advanced disease and common
    intraoperative challenges
• Rectal Cancer
  • Principles of rectal cancer workup
  • Operative planning and oncologic considerations
  • Managing locally advanced disease and complications
• Ostomy Creation and Care (co-led by the ostomy RNs at KATH)
  • Indications for stoma formation
  • Technical principles of ostomy creation
  • Common complications and practical management strategies
  • The critical role of patient education and follow-up
• Anorectal Conditions
  • Management of hemorrhoids, fistula-in-ano, and other common
    anorectal problems
  • Decision-making around operative versus non-operative approaches
• Case-Based Discussions
  • Interactive case reviews drawn from local practice
  • Open discussion of complications, failures, and lessons learned

The day blended didactic lectures with interactive discussion, encouraging
participants to share their own experiences, challenges, and solutions. KATH, KBTH
and regional surgeons served as moderators, ensuring the conversation stayed
grounded in the local context.

Faculty and Collaboration

The workshop was led by a multidisciplinary group of colorectal surgeons with deep experience in both high-volume practice and global surgical education, including faculty from Ghana and visiting partners from the United States. This collaborative model—local leadership paired with long-term international partners—is central to how we approach sustainable surgical education.

Why This Matters

For us, this workshop represents more than a single educational event. It is part of a broader, long-term commitment to building colorectal surgery capacity in Ghana through:

• Structured fellowship training
• Continuing professional development for practicing surgeons
• Regional outreach beyond major teaching hospitals
• Ongoing mentorship and educational exchange

Workshops like this create space not only for skill-building, but also for connection—between surgeons, institutions, and generations of trainees who are all working toward the same goal: improving access to safe, timely, and high-quality colorectal care for patients across Ghana.

As we continue to expand training, support fellows, and develop future workshops, we remain deeply grateful to our Ghanaian colleagues whose dedication, openness, and leadership make this work possible.

This is how systems grow—one partnership, one workshop, one patient at a time.