RAWALPINDI, Dec 3: A virtual trainer lab has been established at surgical unit of the Holy Family Hospital aimed at improving the minimal invasive surgery skills.

The main objectives of establishing this lab are to enhance current MIS (Minimal Invasive Surgery) facilities in the operation theatres of the hospital, develop minimally invasive surgery training manual for workshops and to train faculty and surgical residents of Rawalpindi Medical College & Allied Hospitals through comprehensive MIS training workshops.

The lab simulators will be utilised to help trainees to acquire the skills needed to perform complex minimally invasive surgical procedures prior to practicing them on patients. The Lab is equipped with state of the art modern basic surgical simulators, box trainers, tower trainers, full procedural simulators and specific task trainers.

This was stated by Prof Muhammad Mussadiq Khan, Principal Rawalpindi Medical College & Allied Hospitals while addressing concluding ceremony of laparoscopic training workshop here on Wednesday.

Senior faculty members of the surgery department were trained during the week-long workshop. The main objective of the workshop was to present and discuss the principles of education and evaluation pertinent, to training residents in laparoscopic surgery, principles of simulation and the validation of training models.

There was a comprehensive training on how to demonstrate and prepare the trainees to learn and perform these skills on the trainers and evaluate these skills in the virtual lab and hands on session in operating theatres.

Deliberating upon the importance of laparoscopic surgery Prof Mussadiq said that it is with the instigation of MIS that operations that were previously performed open are now performed laparoscopically.

However necessary for many subspecialties of Surgery the training facilities for this emerging technology are still limited in the country, he said adding establishment of this Virtual Trainer Lab would improve the research capacity building at teaching institutions.

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA and Department of Surgery, Surgical Unit-II Holy family hospital are the two collaborating institutions.

It was informed that Twelve Faculty Members from five surgery departments of Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutoo Hospital and DHQ Hospital were trained during this workshop.

Prof. Ronald C Merrell from Virginia Commonwealth University and Prof. Asif Zafar Malik, Head of department of Surgery, Rawalpindi Medical College were the two directors of workshop Course.

This group of Master trainers will in turn train 120 postgraduate trainees completing their fellowship training in general surgery, gynecology, urology and orthopedics departments in RMC & Allied Teaching Hospitals of Rawalpindi. All these residents will be trained in MIS skills through two-week workshops that are planned in the next year. Advanced courses for faculty members are also planned.