RECAP: 2025 CHESA Fellows Retreat
From October 30 to November 2, 2025, CHESA brought together more than 50 surgical and anesthesia fellows, faculty, and collaborators from eight countries for our largest in-person global gathering yet. It was a milestone for the 2024-2026 fellowship cohort – a community that, until now, had mostly known one another through screens. What unfolded was a retreat full of curiosity, connection, and the kind of shared energy that can only happen when people meet face-to-face.
We kicked things off with a welcome dinner that set a joyful and relaxed tone. That spirit carried into the retreat sessions, where fellows and faculty led thoughtful, candid discussions on trust, equity, and what it means to collaborate across different systems and contexts. Participants spoke openly about aligning expectations, navigating constraints, and what true shared ownership of programs and research should look like.
The heart of the retreat was the learning itself. Workshops and presentations sparked lively, highly interactive conversations and small group exercises on mentorship, curriculum development, simulation-based teaching, leadership development, well-being, funding strategies, and strengthening surgical and anesthesia training pathways. The sessions were practical, hands-on, and energizing – full of problem-solving, peer coaching, and real-time brainstorming. The energy in the room shifted as people began challenging each other, testing ideas, and offering solutions rooted in their own experiences. Another highlight of the retreat was a tour of Mulago Hospital, where visiting fellows and faculty learned directly from local teams and gained insight into the clinical and training environment that shapes Uganda’s surgical and anesthesia landscape.
Several fellows shared work-in-progress presentations on their fellowship projects, on topics such as surgical outreach in refugee communities, early detection of congenital anomalies, theatre efficiency, tracheostomy care, and postoperative pain management. These sparked rich discussion, new ideas and learnings.
By the end of the retreat, it was clear this community is ready for what comes next. Fellows and faculty left with new friendships, stronger cross-country ties, and a shared commitment to advancing patient care, strengthening training environments, supporting one another’s projects, and building sustainable surgical systems together. The CHESA Fellows Retreat showed what’s possible when people with a shared purpose gather in the same room – not just to learn, but to listen, laugh, and imagine the future they want to build. Participants from across the CHESA global network left energized and united, carrying forward the belief that the work we are doing – across borders, specialties, and institutions – matters, and that we are stronger and more impactful when we do it together.
