In February 2022, Russia launched an offensive in Ukraine, resulting in significant casualties to civilians, including children. As part of an academic/NGO partnership, a novel pediatric trauma fundamentals course (PTF) was developed to provide pediatric trauma education to frontline healthcare providers across Ukraine.

The objective of the program was to develop, implement, and evaluate a novel PTF educational course in the active conflict zone of Ukraine.

A two-day PTF course was internally developed and implemented in Ukraine from November 2022 to December 2024. Training effectiveness was assessed using the RE-AIM framework. Participants completed pre- and post- assessments in knowledge and self-confidence and critical skills were assessed against objective skill checklists. Change in knowledge and self-confidence were analyzed, respectively, with the nonparametric Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test and McNemar’s test for paired data. Anonymous course evaluations were solicited after each course. Six-week follow up surveys assessed skill utilization and stewardship.

446 Ukrainian healthcare providers were trained during 30 courses across eight oblasts in Ukraine during the intervention period. Aggregated knowledge and self-confidence significantly improved across all measures. Ukrainian instructors received higher scores on instructor evaluations compared to international instructors. Six-week follow-up surveys demonstrated participants had positive views of the training, used the training on patients, and taught the material to others.

Our PTF course implementation demonstrates a successful partnership-based model for implementing pediatric trauma education in an active conflict zone. Implementation challenges can be mitigated through partnership-based models between academic institutions and organizations with local implementation expertise.