An Assessment of the Global Health Interest in the Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Community and Perceived Barriers

Objective: Minimally invasive gynecologic surgeons are interested in participating in medical missions abroad, but financial costs and scheduling conflicts the biggest barriers. This study identified motivations and barriers to pursuing global health endeavors to promote minimally invasive gynecologic surgery in low- and middle-income countries.Materials and Methods: A modified validated survey was sent via e-mail to 7290 surgeons on the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists' (AAGL) listserv. Survey questions covered demographics, global health interest, volunteering experience, motivations in pursuing medical missions abroad, and perceived barriers. Responses were collected over 3 months. chi(2) tests were used to determine differences in key outcomes in demographic predictors. Variables with significant associations identified by univariate analysis were then carried into multiple logistic regression analysis to assess motivations and barriers of participants who were very likely or extremely likely to volunteer versus those who were slightly likely, or not at all likely to do so. A significance level of alpha 0.05 was used throughout.Results: Of the AAGL members, 2081 opened the e-mail but only 227 members responded to the survey-a completion rate of 89%-and 52% responded they were likely to participate in a medical mission abroad. Participants were most-commonly motivated by fulfilling the true medical creed (63%) and fulfilling personal altruistic goals (56%). Scheduling conflicts and financial costs (58% and 55%, respectively) were the 2 most-common barriers.Conclusions: Survey participants indicated interest in partaking in medical missions abroad, but found scheduling conflicts and financial costs to be the biggest obstacles. Recognizing these motivations and barriers may aid in increasing, facilitating, and improving surgical care around the world. (J GYNECOL SURG 20XX:000)