Training
Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery (FRS)
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 the major surgical specialties in the United States that currently perform robotic-assisted surgical procedures, the Department of Defense, and the Veterans Administration (VA).
FRS Four Consensus Conferences
01. Outcome Measures
02. Curriculum Planning
03. Curriculum Development
04. Validation Study Design
The Four Modules of FRS
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Module 1
Introduction to Surgical Robotic Systems
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Module 2
Didactic Instructions for Robotic Surgery
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Module 3
Psychomotor Skills Curriculum
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Module 4
Team Training & Communication Skills
ISE managed the international proficiency-based progression training program validation trial that included 12 major American College of Surgeons’ Accredited Education Institute (ACS-AEI) centers. The results were published in the Annals of Surgery in August 2020.
FRS is now managed by the Institute for Surgical Excellence (ISE). Contact ISE for information about how to access the FRS curriculum.
ISE also developed a new FRS Dome for basic skills training. Learn more about the FRS Dome.