Teaching advanced laparoscopic skills in colorectal surgery

Abstract

Laparoscopic colon and rectal surgery is now well established as a safe and effective technique for treating many conditions. The development of a standard platform and tools for training laparoscopic skills is crucial, since a specific set of skills is necessary to perform laparoscopic surgery. Time, cost and medico-legal constraints have led to a fall-back of laboratory-based skill acquisition, which provides for a structured and systematic educational opportunity, in addition to stress modulation. However, multiple inanimate models and virtual reality simulators indicate that there is no single best method, which has high fidelity for transfer of skills from bench to operating room. The most important type of training is acquired from high volume structured experience in formal laparoscopic colorectal surgery training programs.