title: Laparoscopic and robotic surgical training in urology.
abstract: The most important change in urology during the past decade was the development of minimally invasive surgery, particularly laparoscopy. However, the main drawback of laparoscopy is a steep learning curve, which results from the significant changes in the surgical environment. Although laparoscopy can provide important advantages for the patient, including decreased length of hospitalization, decreased analgesic requirement, and a shortened postoperative convalescence, one concern has been whether laparoscopic techniques should be learned solely in the operating room. For example, sports, music, and aviation are practiced before an actual performance is ever undertaken. In this review, the advantages and limitations of all available training modalities in minimally invasive surgery are described. Testing basic laparoscopic skills on inanimate models, becoming familiar with the principles of dissection and hemostasis on living animals, and studying surgical anatomy on cadavers should be considered as indispensable and complementary elements for laparoscopic training in the future. In addition, telementoring with the help of modern image processing and virtual reality eventually may become the basis of tomorrow's surgical instruction.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Urologie CHU Henri Mondor, 51 Av Du Ml De Lattre de Tassigny, 94010 Créteil, France. andras.hoznek@hmn.ap-hop-paris.fr
authors.forename: András
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoznek
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gettman
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salomon
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Antiphon
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de la Taille
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yiou
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chopin
authors.forename: Clément-Claude
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Abbou
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008611:Mentors; D023421:Models, Animal; D012371:Robotics / Q000193:education*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014572:Urology / Q000193:education*; D014584:User-Computer Interface