First CGSTA Chapter in Canada

CGSTA Saguenay was approved by the AGÉMUS Saguenay (Association générale étudiante de médecine de l'Université de Sherbrooke) in February 2019 as a student-led project. It is the first CGSTA chapter in Quebec and the first in a francophone medical school. In 2019, we held an intro to global surgery mini-conference to educate students on what global surgery entails, what the current statistics tell us, CGSTA and InciSioN’s mission, and what opportunities exist for interested students. A social media page was created as a platform to share information on campaign days (Maternal Health Day, Global Surgery Day, etc.) as well as research and conference opportunities in global surgery.

In 2019-2020, we aim to join the GIMCR (Groupe d’Intérêt en médecine spécialisée, chirurgie et recherche) as well as the SCOGH in order to hold more events for students. Due to our rural location, we would like to explore the barriers unique to rural and indigenous populations to access to surgery.