AHSS Outreach
Introduction
The Australian Hand Surgery Society (AHSS) has been actively involved in providing Hand Surgery outreach to Asia and the Pacific Islands for more than 30 years. AHSS members have led and joined collaborative teams or undertaken individual missions, in many cases, being financially supported by the AHSS.
AHSS members have been involved in initiating several outreach programs, many at a time when practical resources, personal safety and local surgical practices were very limited. In many cases these programs have blossomed and continue to provide much needed surgical care, training and mentorship.
The programs established by AHSS members Profs. Bruce Conolly, Bill Cummings and Graham Gumley have lasted decades and weathered the storms of local resistance to change, financial challenges, armed conflict and disease.
Illustrative of the value of commitment over time has been the programs led by A/Prof. Graham Gumley, who commenced his lifetime of dedication to outreach in the Asian region in 1994. With his passion and leadership, he brought together many teams of surgeons, hand therapists and administrators to provide amazing support to these communities by providing direct care, surgical skills training, Hand Surgery teaching and mentoring to so many in less fortunate communities.
These programs have not only provided valuable treatment but, otherwise unavailable, but focused on advancing local skills through education, mentoring and ongoing relationships. Such ongoing professional relationships and friendships with local surgeons, trainees and therapists have been valuable in sustainably raising the standard of care in our neighbouring countries.
While the COVID-19 pandemic limited overseas travel, many programs adopted virtual teaching via Zoom, or similar platforms, to maintain these important relationships. Virtual platforms continue to provide ongoing training, enhanced patient evaluation, diagnosis and treatment planning. The AHSS has created a WhatsApp chat group for hand surgeons involved or interested in outreach to allow collaboration and cross pollination of ideas.
Outreach Programs Led by AHSS Members
Country
Year/s
AHSS team leader
Collaborating Organisation
Cambodia
1997-present
Graham Gumley
Orthopaedic Outreach
Dominican Republic
1998
James Masson
LEAP
Fiji
1999, 2016
James Masson
Interplast
Fiji
1983 +
Bill Cumming
Orthopaedic Outreach
India
1994, 1996
Graham Gumley
Indonesia
1970+
Bill Cumming
Orthopaedic Outreach
Indonesia
2008, 2009, 2014-2018
Graham Gumley
Indonesia
1970+
Bill Cumming
Orthopaedic Outreach
Laos
1998
Bruce Conolly
Laos
2017
Philip Slattery
Interplast
Myanmar (Burma)
2000
Bruce Conolly
Peter Scougall
Nepal
2001
James Masson
Interplast
Nepal
2018-present
David Graham
AusNEP, Orthopaedic Outreach
Papua New Guinea
1997, 2010 - 2013
James Masson
Interplast
Solomon Islands
2023 - present
David Graham
Hands On South Pacific, Orthopaedic Outreach
Uganda
2019
Graham Gumley
Vietnam
1996-2008
Bruce Conolly
Vietnam
1997-present
Peter Scougall
Vietnam
2006, 2009 - 2019
James Masson
AHSS Member Participation with Collaborative Outreach Programs
Country
Year/s
Team Leader
AHSS Participants
Fiji
2022 - present
Stuart Myers Orthopaedic Outreach
Matt White
Fiji
2014
Stuart Myers
Orthopaedic Outreach
Papua New Guinea
2019
Des Soares Pacific Islands Orthopaedic Association
Sarah Coll
Samoa
2024
Des Soares Pacific Islands Orthopaedic Association
Graham Gumley Sarah Coll Jennifer Green
Collaborative Organisations
AHSS is grateful for the support of all who have contributed to AHSS Outreach, including the many sponsors, charitable and collaborative organisations that have supported this important work. Returning AHSS team members have unfailingly reported the value in these trips, personally, professionally and for the contribution to local health networks. The AHSS is motivated to assist establishing and maintaining new outreach programs in addition to the current projects, forging new relationships with our Asia Pacific colleagues.
Many AHSS Outreach programs are also supported by other surgical membership organisations. The AHSS is committed to ongoing collaboration with other partnering organisations involved in hand surgery outreach. Such integration helps teams provide optimal patient care and local surgeon training. AHSS is working with IFSSH, ASSH and BSSH to develop a connected global hand surgery outreach community. Significant contributors to AHSS Outreach are listed below.
AUSNEP
Lisa (Loopy) Kiddle of the charity AUSNEP in Nepal, collaborates with the AHSS team led by Dr David Graham.
The extent of the appreciation of such work across the region is highlighted in the words of Prof Vuthy Chhoeurn from Cambodia, a RACS Rowan Nicks Fellow, in his 2014 IFSSH report.
Pacific Islands Orthopaedic Association
Established by Queenslander Dr Des Soares in 2012 with programs across the Pacific leading to a regional University supported degree. AHSS members actively involved in teaching, face to face and via Zoom, include Jennifer Green, Sarah Coll and Graham Gumley.
Hands On South Pacific
Swiss surgeons led by Dr Konrad Mende from Basel have formed the Hands On South Pacific teaching program for the Solomon Islands and the AHSS team now collaborates with Hands On both in virtual teaching and crossing integrating with outreach team programs.
Orthopaedic Outreach
Interplast
The Early Years
Associate Professor Bruce W Conolly was the first AHSS member to begin Australian-based outreach work through regular visits to Myanmar (Burma) in 2000, and the establishment of the first Vietnamese Hand Surgery Centre in 2002.
Professor Bill Cumming spent 30 years developing orthopaedic and hand surgery training and care in Indonesia.
Dr Grace Warren, dedicated 37 years to leprosy care across the Asia Pacific, developing an incredible expertise in tendon transfers that has benefitted many members of AHSS in their care of complex cases. Dr. Grace Warren AM devoted her career to helping those in need, particularly in the field of leprosy care. Over the course of her work, she travelled extensively across Asia, visiting 26 countries including India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, and Taiwan.
Dr. Warren made a profound impact on the lives of her patients, challenging established practices through her groundbreaking research and the development of innovative surgical techniques to treat neuropathic limbs. Although she officially retired in 1989, her commitment remained unwavering as she continued to provide critical care through regular overseas missions until 2012.
In recognition of her extraordinary contributions, Dr. Warren was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1986 for her international work with leprosy patients. She was also awarded the Star of Pakistan for her 37 years of humanitarian service in the country, where she tirelessly worked to advance leprosy treatment.
Associate Professor Graham Gumley established the Sihanouk Hospital Centre of HOPE in Cambodia in1997. He was responsible for developing its surgical department and training scheme. Since returning to Australia in 2004 and joining AHSS, he has visited Cambodia almost annually with hand surgery and hand therapy teams to provide teaching and surgical services.
Over the years, the Australian Hand Surgery Society has consistently demonstrated a strong and ongoing commitment to multiple overseas outreach programs.
In 2007 Professor Michael Tonkin, Professor Bill Cumming, Associate Professor Bruce Conolly, Mr Damian Ireland and Associate Professor Graham Gumley established ‘Helping Hands’ as the outreach subgroup for the Australian Hand Surgery Society. The aim of “Helping Hands” was to start slowly with modest goals aimed primarily at teaching self-sufficiency rather than major surgical endeavours. It was anticipated that these activities would commence in the already established programs in Laos, Burma and Vietnam by Bruce Conolly, Indonesia by Bill Cumming and Cambodia by Graham Gumley. Helping Hands gradually developed into “AHSS Overseas Projects” and in 2024 has been renamed “AHSS Outreach”.
Bruce Conolly
Bill Cummings
Grace Warren
Graham Gumley
Peter Scougall
James Masson
David Graham
AHSS Outreach Projects
David Graham In 2023 Dr David Graham led a team to the Solomon Islands. The team included AHSS members Dr Anna Watson...
Dr James Masson led trips to Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), and Goroka 199 in 1997, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 in...
Bruce Connolly Associate professor Bruce W Conolly undertook regular visits to Myanmar from 2000 onwards. A/Prof Conolly worked diligently with the Myanmar...
Major AHSS Contributors To Outreach
Associate Professor Bruce Connolly AM
Dr. Grace Warren AM
Dr. Grace Warren AM devoted her career to helping those in need, particularly in the field of leprosy care. Over the course of her work, she travelled extensively across Asia, visiting 26 countries including India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, and Taiwan.
Dr. Warren made a profound impact on the lives of her patients, challenging established practices through her groundbreaking research and the development of innovative surgical techniques to treat neuropathic limbs. Although she officially retired in 1989, her commitment remained unwavering as she continued to provide critical care through regular overseas missions until 2012.
In recognition of her extraordinary contributions, Dr. Warren was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1986 for her international work with leprosy patients. She was also awarded the Star of Pakistan for her 37 years of humanitarian service in the country, where she tirelessly worked to advance leprosy treatment.
Associate Professor Graham Gumley
Graham Gumley was instrumental in establishing the Sihanouk Hospital Centre of HOPE (SHCH) and create its surgical department and training scheme. In 1998 he was appointed the hospital Director and in his six years serving there, until 2003, worked tirelessly to provide outstanding free medical care to all who needed it. He established a surgery training program integrating with the local program as it developed. For his considerable contributions he has received two Humanitarian Service Awards from the Australian Orthopaedic Association (2012 and 2015). He was recognised for his significant service to medicine in the field of orthopaedic surgery, being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2024 and honoured as an International Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH) Pioneer in Hand Surgery in 2025.
Dr Peter Scougall
Dr James Masson
Dr James Masson has led teams on multiple trips including Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic in 1998, Labasa, Lautoka, Suva Fiji in 1999 and 2016, Anandaban Nepal in 2001, Ho Chi Minh City and Tam Ky, Quang Nam Vietnam 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019, all in conjunction with Interplast, and focusing on hand surgery. Doug Wheen has accompanied Dr Masson to Vietnam.
Dr David Graham
Collaborative Organisations
AHSS is grateful for the support of all who have contributed to AHSS Outreach, including the many sponsors, charitable and collaborative organisations that have supported this important work. Returning AHSS team members have unfailingly reported the value in these trips, personally, professionally and for the contribution to local health networks. The AHSS is motivated to assist establishing and maintaining new outreach programs in addition to the current projects, forging new relationships with our Asia Pacific colleagues.
Many AHSS Outreach programs are also supported by other surgical membership organisations. The AHSS is committed to ongoing collaboration with other partnering organisations involved in hand surgery outreach. Such integration helps teams provide optimal patient care and local surgeon training. AHSS is working with IFSSH, ASSH and BSSH to develop a connected global hand surgery outreach community. Significant contributors to AHSS Outreach are listed below.
Pacific Islands Orthopaedic Association
Established by Queenslander Dr Des Soares in 2012 with programs across the Pacific leading to a regional University supported degree. AHSS members actively involved in teaching, face to face and via Zoom, include Jennifer Green, Sarah Coll and Graham Gumley.
Hands On South Pacific
Swiss surgeons led by Dr Konrad Mende from Basel have formed the Hands On South Pacific teaching program for the Solomon Islands and the AHSS team now collaborates with Hands On both in virtual teaching and crossing integrating with outreach team programs.
AUSNEP
Lisa (Loopy) Kiddle of the charity AUSNEP in Nepal, collaborates with the AHSS team led by Dr David Graham.
Thank you To AHSS Outreach Sponsors
AHSS acknowledges the following organisations for their financial support and the generous donation of personnel, equipment and instruments.
AHSS is grateful for all support for the many AHSS Outreach programs. Please contact admin@ahss.org.au if you wish to donate or support in any way.
