5/25/06
A surgical simulation laboratory, part of the Division of Surgical Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, may be the first state-of-the-art simulation and training lab in California and among the first in the western United States. In addition to providing hands-on training for surgical residents and refresher opportunities for experienced surgeons, it will be used to advance the science of surgery and simulated surgery.
“We had about 60 surgeons from around the United States taking the course, an indication that there is significant interest in this young but growing field,” says Edward Phillips, MD, executive vice chairman of the Department of Surgery and chief of the Division of General Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
“We expect to perform studies at Cedars-Sinai that will lead to even greater technological sophistication, and we will conduct ‘validity studies’ to determine which performance criteria in a virtual setting correlate with safety and skill accomplishment in the real setting.”
According to Phillips, Cedars-Sinai will make the Surgical Simulation and Training Laboratory available to medical students and surgical residents at universities and other hospitals in the Los Angeles area.
[www.newswise.com, May 25, 2006]
