Focus Group on Laparoscopic Colectomy Education as endorsed by the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES)

Excerpt

A Focus Group on Laparoscopic Colectomy Education was convened and has developed a guideline for educating trained surgeons in the use of laparoscopic colectomy for colorectal disease. This guideline has been developed to address the increased interest in laparoscopic colectomy for cancer. The group has made recommendations regarding the content, faculty, and training model for hands-on courses in laparoscopic colorectal surgery. This guideline is intended to assist societies, course directors, teaching institutions, and national organizations in developing training programs for their members and accrediting courses, which are provided by the members on a local level. This recommendation for training was developed by a focus group of surgeons and industry representatives with extensive experience in training fellows in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-approved training programs, teaching in a laparoscopic training program sponsored by the Association of Program Directors in Colon and Rectal Surgery, and training general surgeons in industry and institutional-sponsored training programs. The group was convened at Washington University in St. Louis in July 2004 and again at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons in New Orleans in October 2004. …