Based on a generous gift by the 1923 Fund members, the department of urology has recently installed a robotics simulator to enhance robotic training of our urology residents and trainees. The simulator serves the main purpose of providing a safe environment for trainees to learn the complex skills of robotic instrument and camera movement as well as use of electrocautery and suturing in a safe environment much like an airline pilot is required to log many hours on a flight simulator before actually flying an airplane. The simulator comes with several modules dedicated to enhancing the training of specific skills. As such this unique simulator allows residents to hone their robotic skills prior to assisting in robotic procedures such as radical prostatectomy, partial nephrectomy, and adrenalectomy in the operating room. Robotic simulation is one of many facets of resident training in minimally invasive urologic surgery that include didactic lectures, hands-on skills training in a wet-lab environment, on-line modules as well as a video library of surgical procedures.
