COOPERSTOWN – Numerous challenges face the doctor who establishes a rural surgery practice and those challenges are not unique to rural America. The Mithoefer Center for Rural Surgery at Bassett Hospital will offer the medical community an opportunity to examine rural surgery issues common across the globe at its second annual Rural Surgery Symposium. More than 200 doctors are expected to attend the event Sept. 17-19, at the Otesaga Resort Hotel. Steven Heneghan, M.D., chief of surgery and co-director of the Rural Surgery Center, said, “In response to requests from the medical community outside our country’s borders, we have expanded the program to include presentations by surgeons from Australia, Newfoundland, Eastern Africa and India.” Co-director of the Rural Surgery Center, Randall Zuckerman, M.D., said, “Adding an international component to the symposium gives attendees a global view of not only the challenges, but also potential solutions to the rural surgery crisis.” The symposium will also address such topics as measuring quality in a rural practice, education initiatives in rural surgery and recent rural surgery research. The Mithoefer Center for Rural Surgery was established at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in 2003 and is dedicated to ensuring rural citizens have access to high quality surgical services.
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