UPDATE - Issue 35 - Autumn 2008
Robotics training
A team from Guy's Hospital, London went to the prestigious IRCAD Centre in Strasbourg, France to spend two days in July training with the Da Vinci robotic system. The team consisting of two surgeons - Krish Sairam, Senior Registrar and Declan Cahill, Consultant Urologist and two senior scrub nurses - Pauline Atkinson and Erwin Alamariz, learnt the steps of setting up the system, the techniques used for docking the robot to the patient and nuances of using the robotic arms and the console, maximising the potential of the system.
After returning from the course, which was supported entirely by a grant from Prostate UK, Erwin Alamariz said, 'I really feel confident now scrubbing up to assist for a robotic prostatectomy. This training course has provided me with the knowledge and skills to perform my job well, protecting the health and maintaining safety of the patient, an important goal during the operation.' Declan Cahill performed a robotic prostatectomy the day after returning from the course. Krish Sairam, who has a special interest in robotic surgery, feels that this training course has empowered him to perform steps of robotic prostatectomy with confidence. The entire team feel that this training course, in turn, will benefit the patient with prostate cancer.