TY - JOUR T1 - SUrgical safaris with the east africa flying doctor service AU - Furnas DW, Gilchrist D, Rees TD, Wood A Y1 - 1979/10/01 N1 - 10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370340049009 JO - Archives of Surgery SP - 1143 EP - 1148 VL - 114 IS - 10 N2 - • A few hundred small mission and government hospitals serve the 20 million people who live in rural East Africa. The physician-patient ratio is 1:25,000. Surgical support to many of these hospitals is provided through the East Africa Flying Doctor Service of the African Medical and Research Foundation. Small aircraft that are coordinated by a wide radio network bring surgical capability to a maximum number of patients in this area of 1,300,000 sq km (500,000 sq miles). The clinical problems, differential diagnoses, operative decisions, risk, and complications of surgical care all have a distinctly African quality. The working conditions and variety and magnitude of problems provide a stimulating challenge. Surgical safaris are a catalyst for gaining acceptance of modern scientific methods by Africa's tradition-oriented tribesmen.(Arch Surg 114:1143-1148, 1979) SN - 0004-0010 M3 - doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370340049009 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370340049009 ER -