Closing Gaps in Surgical Safety: GMKA Perioperative Care Program Reaches Nearly 500 Ukrainian Clinicians

The course was developed by the Global Medical Knowledge Alliance (GMKA) together with experts from the University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, a major academic teaching hospital and home to Canada’s largest trauma centre, as well as the NGO MedRise.

Across three modules, experts shared current approaches to perioperative medicine, complex clinical situations, patient optimization, and postoperative complications. More than half of the participants had over 10 years of clinical experience, creating an opportunity for new knowledge and practices to be shared within medical teams and passed on to younger clinicians.

"The outcome of surgical treatment depends not only on the expertise of an individual specialist, but also on how effectively the entire team works together — from preparing the patient for surgery through recovery," said Inesa Huivaniuk, MD, MPA, surgical oncologist and Co-Executive Director of GMKA. "That is why we focus on training that responds to real needs in clinical practice and gives physicians tools they can use every day. This is how education can strengthen the quality and safety of care and ultimately improve outcomes for patients."

In Ukraine, where healthcare resources are under pressure and the need for surgical care remains high, effective risk assessment, management of comorbidities, and coordination across specialties are particularly important for ensuring patient safety.

Participants reported already applying what they learned in practice, from perioperative and cardiac risk assessment to thromboprophylaxis, diabetes management, delirium prevention, nutritional optimization, and ERAS principles.

“Patients with injuries often have comorbidities that complicate treatment and the use of standard protocols,” said one participant. “Going forward, I plan to work more closely with the surgeon on thrombosis prevention and medication management, pay greater attention to geriatric patients and their physiological characteristics, and introduce more targeted preoperative preparation.”

For another participant, the impact was immediate: “The knowledge I gained during the course helped me make the right clinical decisions for a patient receiving glucocorticoids. I also regularly refer to the course recommendations on perioperative medication management.”

All course recordings remain freely available on GMKA’s educational platform, giving clinicians across Ukraine continued access to the training.

Through programs like this, GMKA identifies real needs in Ukrainian clinical practice and brings in international expertise where it can have the greatest impact — helping medical teams improve the quality and safety of care and, ultimately, outcomes for patients.