SELF Mentorship Programme and Community of Practice
Surgical Education Learners Forum
The Surgical Education Learners Forum (SELF) builds on the Global Surgical Training Challenge (GSTC), a $5 million global competition that supported the development of self-directed surgical skills training modules. As an evolution of the GSTC, SELF continues this work by developing and evaluating training modules that enable clinicians and healthcare workers in low-resource settings to independently learn and self-assess specific skills.
Following a successful collaboration on a structured mentorship programme during the GSTC, the Intuitive Foundation and the RCSI Institute of Global Surgery, in collaboration with the RCSI SIM Centre for Simulation Education and Research, have continued their partnership through SELF. The programme is delivered through two complementary pillars: the Mentorship Programme and the Community of Practice. Together, these components support the development and dissemination of self-administered, low-cost surgical simulation modules, while fostering shared learning, capacity building and access to open source resources across the wider SELF community.
Mentorship Programme
The SELF Mentorship Programme supports teams developing self administered, low-cost surgical simulation training modules for use in low-resource settings. The programme provides structured, hands on guidance to help teams deliver high quality, impactful training solutions.
Each SELF grant recipient is paired with a dedicated mentorship manager, who acts as a single point of contact throughout the programme. Mentorship managers support teams across all stages of module development, helping to interpret requirements, identify challenges, apply best practices, and connect with relevant expertise as needed.
The programme is structured, time-limited and team-focused. Teams meet regularly with their mentorship manager using an agreed agenda, with progress documented through shared records and resources. Where appropriate, teams are supported to engage with subject matter experts in areas such as simulation design, assessment, materials and scale-up, with expert input scheduled at key points in the development process to ensure it is timely and relevant.
Community of Practice
The SELF Community of Practice is a global, multidisciplinary network focused on advancing low-cost, open source, self-administrable surgical simulation training for low-resource settings. It brings together clinicians, educators, researchers, engineers and innovators who share a common interest in improving access to high-quality surgical training through collective learning and collaboration.
The Community of Practice provides a shared space for regular interaction, knowledge exchange and collaborative problem solving across diverse geographic and professional contexts. Its aims are to:
- Support collective learning and capacity building in self directed surgical simulation.
- share core principles, frameworks and best practices with a wider audience.
- Foster innovation, collaboration and skill-sharing across the field.
Established in July 2024, the SELF Community of Practice is hosted on the United Nations Global Surgery Learning Hub (SURGhub). Members can access curated resources, recordings of past sessions and contributions from experts, alongside monthly live online discussions focused on the design, development, assessment and scale-up of self-directed surgical simulation training.
It also provides opportunities for developers to showcase modules, share work in progress and receive feedback from peers and subject matter experts. Alongside the main platform, a parallel WhatsApp Community supports more informal day to day interaction through specialised interest groups.
The programme is funded by Intuitive Foundation.
Those interested in joining the Community of Practice can get in touch to learn more and request access.
The team
The SELF Mentorship Programme is delivered by a team of mentorship managers drawn from the RCSI SIM Centre for Simulation Education and Research, RCSI Department of Surgical Affairs and the RCSI Institute of Global Surgery. Their work is supported by a wider network of subject matter experts from across RCSI and partner institutions internationally.
Project management for the programme is led by RCSI Institute of Global Surgery, with coordination and oversight provided by: