Why every anesthesia trainee should receive global health equity education

Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.''-Paulo Freire -Pedagogy of the Oppressed Inequitable access to safe surgery, anesthesia, and pain services is one of the greatest contemporary global health (GH) crises, yet most North American anesthesia training programs do not adequately prepare future anesthesiologists to recognize or address this growing challenge.Five of the world's seven billion people lack access to timely and affordable surgical and anesthesia services.1 For those who can access these services, over 30 million people per year face catastrophic healthcare expenditure (i.e., when out-of-pocket healthcare costs lead to financial hardship for individuals or households).For some, the risk of dying from anesthesia-related complications is as high as one in 100. 2 Access to analgesia is similarly restricted worldwide.Approximately 80% of the global population has either insufficient or no access to treatment for moderate or severe pain, with nearly 150 countries lacking reliable