ESU to launch OR Workshops

In a bid to further boost the skills of urologists in Europe and facilitate the exchange of vital surgical knowledge in the operating room, the European School of Urology (ESU) will offer, starting in the second quarter of 2014, a series of sponsored operating room (OR) workshops.

Dubbed as Onsite Workshops, the goal is to provide a direct opportunity for urologists to observe, learn and closely examine the proven procedures and techniques of a surgical expert right in the operating room or hospital where the expert surgeon is based.

“We are aware that the various fellowships, courses and masterclasses require a lot of time, finances and coordination for a surgical expert to share his knowledge and skills. Often this means a lot of travelling for surgical experts. On the part of the participants this also means financial investment and it is not always easy for them to get training from a center of excellence,” said Dr. Joan Palou, ESU Chairman In response to what the ESU said is a growing need for more direct links between urologists in need of training and expert surgeons, a series of two-day onsite operating room workshops will be offered sometime mid-2014.

Each workshop is formatted to offer an intensive but short training, with the selected participants travelling to the assigned expert and the host institution or centre. The workshop will be given in two days, with the first day focusing on both theoretical and practical aspects of the surgery, such as indications, instrumentation, techniques and the expected results and complications. The second day will be devoted purely to a full-day OR work with participants directly assisting or observing the work of the expert. Practical tips and tricks and further assessment will also be given.

“The idea is to have an intense, focused or compact workshop with no frills but going directly to the core challenges of the surgical procedures. This will be beneficial in the sense that knowledge is efficiently transferred or shared within a given or set period of time,” according to the ESU.

The planned number of participants for each workshop would be around four to five urologists who are active EAU members. Selection of host centres and experts will be done by the ESU in collaboration with the various EAU section offices. Based on the ESU’s initial planning scheme, the workshop courses will be on endourology, robotic/open prostatectomy, laparoscopic renal surgery, and TURBT/cystectomy. Four courses or workshops will be offered in each module, with endourology as the first workshop to be offered in two sites or centres.

The ESU hopes that with the introduction of onsite workshops, urologists with already some experience across Europe would be offered another opportunity to develop and refine their surgical skills without the burden of time-consuming application processes and additional financial investment. The fact that the workshops would be led by recognised experts would also mean boosting the level of quality skills that are necessary for vital surgical operations to succeed.