The Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery (FRS) is a joint educational program funded through a Department of Defense grant and an unrestricted educational grant from Intuitive Surgical. FRS is a multi-specialty, proficiency-based curriculum of basic technical skills to train and assess surgeons to safely and efficiently perform robotic-assisted surgery. It was developed by over 80 national/international robotic surgery experts, behavioral psychologists, medical educators, statisticians and psychometricians. The clinical robotic surgery subject matter experts represented all of the major surgical specialties in the United States that currently performs robotic-assisted surgical procedures, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration (VA).
This 2 year development process brought together over 80 experts from all of the major surgical specialties in the United States that currently perform robotic-assisted surgical procedures, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.
This group conducted 4 consensus conferences including:
1) Outcome measures
2) Curriculum planning
3) Curriculum development
4) Validation study design
It is anticipated that hundreds and possibly thousands of robotic surgeons will be training and assessed utilizing the curriculum. Curriculum validation studies are presently ongoing. Clinicians can access the comprehensive curriculum.
The curriculum is divided into four modules, including:
Module 1: Introduction to Surgical Robotic Systems
A technological revolution occurred with the introduction of laparoscopy and other minimally invasive surgeries. This curriculum provides a primer for surgeons who choose to pursue robotic surgery.
Module 2: Didactic Instructions for Robotic Surgery Systems
This module contains the cognitive skills required to conduct safe and successful robotic procedures in the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative phases.
Module 3: Psychomotor Skills Curriculum
The psychomotor skills curriculum was developed by international experts in robotic surgery through multiple consensus conferences. It is designed to train and assess the proficiency of surgeons interested in performing robotic surgery.
Module 4: Team Training & Communication Skills
The use of a robotic system creates unique demands, which are beyond those demands in open and laparoscopic surgery. The principle difference is the physical separation of the primary surgeon from the patient, the operative team members and operative site. The result is that the surgeon must rely even more upon team participation and clear, unambiguous communication with team members.
After each module there is a summative assessment and report of your performance.
ERUS Host Centers
| Alfried Krupp Hospital Essen | Germany |
| Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital | Turkey |
| Bristol Urological Institute | United Kingdom |
| Cantonal Hospital Lucerne | Switzerland |
| Clinic Generale Beaulieu | Switzerland |
| Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico | Italy |
| Freeman Hospital | United Kingdom |
| Galway Clinic | Ireland |
| Hospital da Luz | Portugal |
| Humanitas Research Hospital | Italy |
| Institut Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Centre | France |
| Kliniken Essen-Mitte Urologic | Germany |
| Maasstad Ziekenhuis | The Netherlands |
| IRCCS San Raffaele Turro Milan | Italy |
| Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital | The Netherlands |
| OLV hospital | Belgium |
| Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | United Kingdom |
| Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | Australia |
| St. Antonius Hospital | Germany |
| Rijnstate Hospital | The Netherlands |
| Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ School of Medicine | United Kingdom |
| San Giovanni Hospital | Italy |
| San Luigi Hospital-University of Turin | Italy |
| St George’s University Hospitals NHS Trust | United Kingdom |
| The Royal Berkshire Hospital | United Kingdom |
| UMC Utrecht Cancer Center | The Netherlands |
| Umraniye Teaching Hospital | Turkey |
| Università di Firenze | Italy |
| Saarland University | Germany |
| University College of London | United Kingdom |
| University Hospital of Toulouse | France |
| University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière | France |
| University of Leipzig | Germany |
| IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele | Italy |
| VU University medical center | The Netherlands |
| Yildirim Beyazit University, School of Medicine | Turkey |
| Aalborg University Hospital | Denmark |
| Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Policlinico di Modena | Italy |
| Karolinska University Hospital | Sweden |
| Royal Surrey County Hospital | United Kingdom |
| KU Leuven | Belgium |