UCSF doctors teaching others how to save limbs of patients

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- UCSF doctors are teaching doctors from low and middle income countries the latest techniques to save the arms and legs of patients.

The Institute for Global Orthopedics and Traumatology, or IGOT, is hosting the 9th annual four day long clinic for doctors from 23 countries.

As more cars clog the roads in some of these developing countries, pedestrians and bicyclists are getting hit. Doctors are teaching how to save those broken limbs.

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"Right now injury trauma burden of disease is more than HIV, TB and malaria combined. It's an area that needs to be addressed smartly," said UCSF orthopedic surgeon Rick Coughlin.

Orthopedic Surgeons are teaching how to heal the bone. Plastic surgeons also come in to teach how to cover the fracture. This is all paid for through grants and donations, and according to the doctors, it's the only hospital in the country hosting such a training session.

"We can pull it off here because people have the heart, people that are willing to do things a little differently," said Coughlin.