Admission Requirements

Generally a B.Sc.in Biological, Biomedical & Life Science, Physical, Computer Science, a M.D. degree, a B.Eng. is required. Exceptionally on a case by case basis, an applicant holding a B.Com., or B.C.L, LL.B., B.A. or B.Sc. in Humanities & Social Sciences will be considered. An applicant must have a minimum CGPA of 3.2/4.0.

Applications will be accepted from candidates from both medical and non-medical backgrounds and sponsored by a research supervisor willing to provide direction for their research work (please refer below for a list of supervisors). Other supervisors from McGill and other universities might be accepted provided they obtain the approval of the Centre for Global Surgery Co-Directors and that one of the two Co-directors acts as a co-supervisor for that student.

A major research project focused on a domain within global surgery is the subject matter for the thesis component of the Concentration. A project supervisor and an appropriate project for the thesis must be selected at the time of application.
Selected students must actively look for grants and scholarships to fund their research work.

To discuss potential thesis material and a research project please contact the Centre for Global Surgery at program.manager [at] cglobalsurgery.com

See also How to apply & Application Deadlines

Dr. Tarek Razek
​Co-director of CGS

Dr. Tarek Razek is the trauma program director and the chief of the division of trauma surgery at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) since 2004. He completed his postgraduate training in trauma surgery and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania. His interest in global surgical issues began early in his career with participation in the medical educational programs of the Canadian Network for International Surgery (CNIS) in Tanzania and Ethiopia.  He has continued to participate in and develop medical educational programs over the past ten years, especially the Trauma Team Training program.

He has been the Chair of the Board of the CNIS, which oversees hundreds of surgical, obstetric, and injury prevention programs predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, He has been active in the area of disaster response in the regional, national and international arenas acting as chair of the disaster committee for the Trauma Association of Canada and participating as part of the Canadian federal Disaster response teams deployed to support surgical services at the Vancouver Olympics of 2010. He consulted for the preparations of the Euro 2012 in the Ukraine.

Dr. Dan Deckelbaum
Co-director of CGS

Dr. Dan Deckelbaum is assistant professor at the Divisions of Trauma and General Surgery at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), associate member of the Department of Epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health at McGill University, and honorary associate professor of the National University of Rwanda. He obtained his subspecialty training in trauma surgery and critical care at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. During his fellowship he also completed a Masters of Public Health at the University of Miami.

In addition to his passion for clinical practice, he has developed an avid interest in global surgical education and development, as well as disaster preparedness and response, establishing and co-directing the MUHC Centre for Global Surgery. His interest in global health is founded upon on-site clinical experience in government hospitals in East Africa as well as disaster response activities in Somalia, Kenya, Turks and Caicos, and Haiti. This clinical experience is the basis for ongoing capacity building programs in resource limited settings across the globe. This includes education programs in resource limited setting.

Dr. Dan Poenaru
CGS Glen/Pediatrics Lead

Dan is a pediatric surgeon working at Montréal Children’s Hospital in Montreal, Canada.

Following medical school studies in Toronto, Canada, he trained in general surgery at McGill University, then in pediatric surgery at the Université de Montreal. He has earned Masters degrees in Health Professions Education (University of Illinois in Chicago, IL) and International Development (William Carey International University, Pasadena, CA) and a doctorate in Health Strategy & Management (Erasmus University, Rotterdam). He has practiced academic surgery for 10 years in Kingston, Canada, then for 12 years in East Africa, and since 2015 in Montreal. His local responsibilities include divisional research director, trauma team activation lead, and director of the Jean-Martin Laberge Fellowship in Global Pediatric Surgery.

His current roles in Africa include: medical and education consultant for BethanyKids, Research Committee chair for the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS), dean of Université Shalom Faculté de Medicine, director-at-large of the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery (GICS), and educational consultant in Somaliland. His areas of interest are academic global pediatric surgery, pediatric trauma, equity in provision of surgical care for children in low-resource settings, patient-centered care, faith issues in clinical practice, and medical education.

Dan is married to Dita who is a nursing clinician and educator, and the Poenarus have two adult sons.