Injury Prevention Research Training in Egypt and the Middle East

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Injuries are a growing public health problem worldwide as thousands of people are killed, injured, and disabled every day. As one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world, human trauma and injury disproportionately affect individuals in developing countries. The impact of trauma and injuries in low-and middle-income countries is devastating, thus requiring increased efforts to train health care professionals and research faculty on this topic. During previous Fogarty International Center injury training grant funding, we trained approximately 950 trainees from Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, Palestine, Yemen, Oman, Afghanistan and other regional countries in one or more of the training course initiated through this program. Of the forty trainees who completed the long-term intensive summer training and mentored research course, 90% have enrolled/completed advanced degrees, accepted faculty positions in academic institutions, or are working for a national or international agency. As a continuation of our previous successful work over the past eleven years in injury prevention research training in the Arab Republic of Egypt, we will accomplish three main objectives, which are to 1) Continue to train our growing cadre of expert traumatologists and emergency physicians in the use of currently available methodologies in trauma resuscitation, injury research, and the collection of data about injuries; 2) Expand our select skilled group of health professionals trained in our intensive summer injury research training courses, followed by in-country mentored research activities (including masters and doctoral degrees), to cement and expand our core group of injury researchers in Egypt and the Arab Middle East and work with them to develop sustainable injury research programs; and 3) Further develop and strengthen regional infrastructure through collaborative efforts with colleagues and institutions in Suez Canal University, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab Middle Eastern Countries. These objectives will be accomplished through a coordinated and organized program built upon the existing successful collaboration between the University of Maryland and Ain Shams University with guidance from experts in the United States and in Egypt. This collaborative structure will allow us to assist Ain Shams University, the Egyptian Ministry of Health, and other health professionals in Egypt, Sudan, and the Arab Middle East to increase their knowledge and understanding of human trauma and injury prevention and apply this knowledge in public health and clinical practice in order to decrease the significant morbidity and mortality caused by injuries. The depth of expertise available at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, especially as it relates to the care of trauma patients and research in motor vehicle crashes, trauma resuscitation, and injury prevention, provides an ideal opportunity to collaborate with experts in the Arab Middle East on these educational efforts.