Pediatric Surgery started modestly in the Sultanate of Oman at Khoula Hospital on 25 September 1985 at the instigation of the late Prof. Musallam El Bualy, Professor of Child Health. The nucleus of the medical and nursing staff of this embryo unit, moved to the Royal Hospital in May 1988. It is currently the only specialized unit for Pediatric Surgery in the Sultanate of Oman and occupies a ward of 24 beds besides another 5-7 bassinets / incubators in SCBU. The unit has 4 consultants, 5 registrars and 4 medical officers. Interns from the Sultan Qaboos University rotate through the department. Admissions include newborn cases and children up to age of 13 with surgical problems who require gastrointestinal, thoracic (excluding cardiac) or urological surgery, and endoscopy (bronchoscopy and oesophagoscopy), treatment for trauma, spina bifida, hydrocephalus, etc. Of the approximately 45000 babies born each year in the Sultanate, all surgical congenital anomalies are admitted to the SCBU at Royal Hospital and treated by the Pediatric Surgical unit.STAFF
Dr. Mohammed Jaffer Sajwani, MB, BCh, FRCS(Glas), Sr. Consultant & Head
Dr. Avirat Anirudh Vaishnav, MB, MS (Gen. Surg), FRCS(Ed), Sr. Consultant
Dr. P. Madhavan Nayar, MB, MS, M. Ch(Ped. Surg), Sr. Consultant
Dr. Ninan Zahariah, MS, MCh(Ped.Surg), Sr. Consultant
Dr. Lalith Wijesinghe FRCS, MS, Senior Specialist
Dr. Hamid Tawfic Abdulshafy Koura, MS, Senior Specialist
Dr. Antonio Romero, MS, Senior Specialist
Dr. Chiman Lal Thakral, MS, Senior Specialist
Dr. Debesh C. Maji, MS, Specialist
Dr. Nagy Shaker Michael, Specialist
Dr. Redha Mohammed, Junior Specialist
Dr. Taha Mohammed Orkud, Medical Officer
Dr. Mahmood Ibrahim, Medical Officer.
WORK SCHEDULE
- A 1-in-4 emergency duty rota, each day there being a consultant, registrar and medical officer on duty.
- Five operating sessions per week with one consultant in theater each day.
- Five outpatient clinics per week with the consultant and registrar each day which also includes a dedicated spina bifida clinic twice a month.
As an indicator of the workload, in the year 2009 there was an attendance of 3420 outpatients, 1845 admissions and 1380 (major and minor) operations.
NEONATAL SURGERY INDEX CASES
The department operates on approximately 120 "Index Case" neonates per year. This index includes oesophageal atresia, anorecteal anomalies, hirschsprungs disease, ompthocoele, congenital diaphgramatic hernia, gastrointestinal atresia.. The inclusion of these specific index cases has been used to try and compare the workload of neonatal and paediatric surgical units around the world, for viability and training of junior staff. A figure of 50 to 60 index cases per year or 30 neonatal cases is considered to be a viable, busy unit. (Pemberton PJ in " Surgery of the Newborn", Chapter 1, Churchill Livingstone, 1994.)
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
The department is involved with both undergraduate and post graduate training. Undergraduates of the SQU attend clinical teaching in the department on rotation. The senior consultants are also involved in delivering didactic lectures on surgical topics in pediatrics at the SQU and serve as examiners in the final MD – Surgery examination. Yet another teaching collaboration that goes back several years, is the teaching of candidates of the Department of Child Health who are preparing for their DCH (Glasgow) examination. The senior consultants also serve as examiners in the royal College of Child Health (Glasgow). The surgical trainees appearing for MRCS and Arab Boards specialty examinations rotate through paediatric surgery as part of their training.
The Unit is also involved in the Resident Training in Surgery as a part of the OMSB. One or two residents rotate through a 3 month long posting during their second year of post graduate surgical training. They work as medical officers, with active participation in clinical responsibilities including on call duties, to enhance their surgical "hands on" experience. Three of the junior doctors in the department are currently in the final stages of appearing for their European Board of Pediatric Surgery examination.
