Education and training: Developing a curriculum for residents and fellows

Abstract

This chapter is designed as a resource for anyone seeking to develop a curriculum for surgical trainees in robotic surgery. It is organized in the same fashion as a curriculum is developed covering the topics of needs assessment, goals and objectives, educational methods, outcome measures, and evaluation and feedback. This chapter outlines the currently available resources to provide cognitive and technical skills training, highlighting the advantages to each and the barriers to their implementation. It also provides examples of best practices for each part of the curriculum identified from the literature or through personal communication with experts in the field. The chapter focuses on training for use of the da Vinci ® Surgical System, but the principles for training are the same for any robotic platform.