Surgical Education Saves Lives

Since Edinburgh Surgery Online was launched in 2007, the ethos has been strongly philanthropic and we are very proud of the fact that every year we support many students internationally to complete their studies with us. This approach was intentional, was one of the driving forces for setting up Edinburgh Surgery Online and has continuously informed its pedagogical approach. Professor James Garden CBE MD DSc(hon) FRCSEd FRCPEd FRSE, Professor Emeritus, and the founding father of Edinburgh Surgery Online and its director until 2023, explains:

When we secured our first scholarship in 2010 from Johnson and Johnson, we immediately became aware of the huge demand for the online programmes in low- and middle-income countries. These clearly added value locally without removing the surgeon from their workplace or comprising health care delivery. Many of our students are based in lower- and middle-income countries and their studies allow them rich exposure to NHS consultants in their respective disciplines to develop their knowledge and understanding evidence-based principles and practice of surgery, ophthalmology or patient safety-related disciplines.

Professor Garden continues:

The very positive personal feedback from these early scholars stimulated us to secure further funding from philanthropic sources as well as established agencies such as the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission. The philosophy of giving was underpinned by a renewed collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, who agreed to use income in excess of running costs (better to use that term rather than profit) to establish our own ESO Global Scholarship programme. It was key to demonstrate that we were committed to supporting those who could neither afford nor did not have ready access to quality surgical education.

We also offer part scholarships to UK based students too and are committed to trying to make our programmes as inclusive and accessible in order to support surgeons and other healthcare professionals where ever they are based in the world. To date we have supported students to study our programmes from over 107 different countries and our reach continues to grow! If you are a prospective funder of scholarships and would like to help support promising surgeons and other healthcare professionals to study with Edinburgh Surgery Online we would love to hear from you. Let’s discuss how we can work together to support more prospective students worldwide!

Read more about one of our first two graduates from an Edinburgh Surgery Online programme

To find out more about the scholarships and to apply, visit our website: Scholarships | Clinical Sciences