Study on Surgical ‘Task-Sharing’ Co-Led by Dr. Jessica Beard Receives Media Attention

New research published in JAMA Surgery and co-led by Jessica H. Beard, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, examined one approach to a shortage of surgeons available for inguinal hernia repair in sub-Saharan Africa: training medical doctors to perform the procedure. The research team found no statistically significant differences in hernia recurrence, post-surgery complications, patient satisfaction, or severe chronic pain when the procedure was performed by a medical doctor compared to a surgeon. This method is called surgical “task-sharing.” Scienmag, Bioengineer.org and Medical Xpress covered the findings.