Training Accreditation A Milestone For RPCI Robotic-Surgery Program

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has become the first institution to be accredited as a Training Institute in Robot-Assisted Surgery by the Soci?©t?© Internationale d'Urologie (SIU). The accreditation allows RPCI to participate in the SIU scholarship program for young urologists, a cornerstone of the association's educational mission. These highly regarded awards provide three-month Robot-Assisted Mini-Fellowships including laparoscopic and robot-assisted skills development and case observership to promising physicians early in their careers.


"As new technologies and tools change the look, feel and structure of urologic practice, high-impact training with experienced surgeons becomes ever more vital," said Khurshid Guru, MD, Director of the Center for Robotic Surgery at RPCI and a world leader in the use of robot-assisted surgery for cancer care. Since 2005, surgeons from around the globe including teams from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Switzerland and Germany and from top U.S. universities have received expert training and mentoring at RPCI.


"What's missing at many institutions is a good training environment. Here at RPCI we have, with the help of the John R. Oishei Foundation, developed an advanced robot-assisted surgery program that trains novice surgeons through more than 10 hours of assimilation-based console time, thereby introducing them to safe basic robot-assisted surgery," explains Dr. Guru, who co-invented one of the world's first robotic surgical training simulators and edited the interactive Operative Manual of Robot-Assisted Urologic Surgery.


"We're eager to pass along insight and practical guidance on the use of robot-assisted cancer surgery to young surgeons through the SIU fellowships," said James Mohler, MD, Chair of the Department of Urology and Associate Director of RPCI.


In 2010, RPCI was included on U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals Cancer list; named a Leapfrog Top Hospital; named a Magnet Recognition Program® facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center; and cited among the Best Places to Work in Academia by The Scientist magazine. The Institute offers postdoctoral and graduate study through the Roswell Park Graduate Division of the University at Buffalo.