Surgery in the French Southern and Antarctic Land

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) form the most remote and isolated territory of our country. Beyond their exceptional historical and natural heritage aspect, they host high-level scientific bases dedicated to research work in a wide variety of disciplines, such as oceanography, glaciology, meteorology, animal and plant biodiversity, or even astronomy, the results of which concern the entire planet and all its life forms. These scientific bases, permanently occupied, require not only a medical presence but also surgical skills, in particular during the austral winter making it impossible to evacuate. The conditions of surgical practice in the Southern Territories remain unique today, although they have points in common with war surgery or humanitarian surgery. Having an operating room with the possibility of general anesthesia and increasingly efficient equipment, the doctors present on the southern bases are rarely trained surgeons and without access to CT or MRI imaging. .
After carrying out an onboard mission on "L'Astrolabe" as flight doctor and scientist (TAAF/ French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor, rotation 2 Hobart-Australia/ Dumont-Durville-Terre-Adélie scientific base), we organised, since 2015, a practical surgery course intended for doctors wintering on the scientific bases of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) which it is instructive to take stock of: 1) educational strategy developed to train practitioners working on these bases, 2) choice of surgical techniques taught and to be mastered, 3) learning opportunities during a surgical internship in a military hospital, 4) development of written and video teaching aids, 5) realization of a practical surgery course of a period of three days in the Anatomy Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine, 6) comparisons with the organization of other countries with surgical activity in Antarctica, and 7) prospects.