Long-term impact of a robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy mini fellowship training program on postgraduate urological practice patterns.

Purpose: Robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy has stimulated a great deal of interest among urologists. We evaluated whether a mini fellowship for robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy would enable postgraduate urologists to incorporate this new procedure into clinical practice.

Materials And Methods: From July 2003 to July 2006, 47 urologists participated in the robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy mini fellowship program.

LapED 4-In-1 silicone training aid for practicing laparoscopic skills and tasks: a preliminary evaluation.

Objective: We developed a simple, inexpensive model to simulate four reconstructive laparoscopic procedures: pyeloplasty, vesicourethral anastomosis, bladder injury repair, and partial nephrectomy.

Materials And Methods: Liquid silicone was applied in layers to a mold to create the 4-in-1 model. A questionnaire evaluating its face and content validity was distributed to postgraduate urologists participating in a mini-residency program at the University of California-Irvine (UCI), and in the 2006 American Urological Association Hands-On course on reconstructive laparoscopic pyeloplasty.

Immediate impact of an intensive one-week laparoscopy training program on laparoscopic skills among postgraduate urologists.

Introduction: Laparoscopic techniques are difficult to master, especially for surgeons who did not receive such training during residency. To help urologists master challenging laparoscopic skills, a unique 5-day mini-residency (M-R) program was established at the University of California, Irvine. The first 101 participants in this program were evaluated on their laparoscopic skills acquisition at the end of the 5-day experience.

Rapid communication: transvaginal single-port NOTES nephrectomy: initial laboratory experience.

Background And Purpose: Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) using purpose-built equipment has never been applied to urologic surgery. Herein, we present our initial experience with a trans-vaginal single-port NOTES nephrectomy.

Methods And Results: An acute experiment was performed in a female farm pig.