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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2013; 40(04): 304-311
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2013.40.4.304
Topic: Simulation for Excellence in Microsurgery Training

Towards a Global Understanding and Standardisation of Education and Training in Microsurgery

Clement Chi Ming Leung
Academic Plastic Surgery Group, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK
,
Ali M Ghanem
Academic Plastic Surgery Group, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK
,
Pierluigi Tos
Department of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Orthopaedic and Trauma Centre-CTO Hospital, Turin, Italy
,
Mihai Ionac
Division of Vascular Surgery and Microsurgery, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania
,
Stefan Froschauer
Microsurgical Training and Research Centre, Centre for Biomedical Technology and Research, Linz, Austria
,
Simon R Myers
Academic Plastic Surgery Group, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK
› Author AffiliationsSource of fund: STeLI London Deanery.
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With an increasing emphasis on microsurgery skill acquisition through simulated training, the need has been identified for standardised training programmes in microsurgery. We have reviewed microsurgery training courses available across the six continents of the World. Data was collected of relevant published output from PubMed, MEDLINE (Ovid), and EMBASE (Ovid) searches, and from information available on the Internet of up to six established microsurgery course from each of the six continents of the World. Fellowships and courses that concentrate on flap harvesting rather than microsurgical techniques were excluded. We identified 27 centres offering 39 courses. Total course length ranged from 20 hours to 1,950 hours. Student-to-teacher ratios ranged from 2:1 to 8:1. Only two-thirds of courses offered in-vivo animal models. Instructions in microvascular end-to-end and end-to-side anastomoses were common, but peripheral nerve repair or free groin flap transfer were not consistently offered. Methods of assessment ranged from no formal assessment, where an instructor monitored and gave instant feedback, through immediate assessment of patency and critique on quality of repair, to delayed re-assessment of patency after a 12 to 24 hours period. Globally, training in microsurgery is heterogeneous, with variations primarily due to resource and regulation of animal experimentation. Despite some merit to diversity in curricula, there should be a global minimum standard for microsurgery training.

Keywords

Curriculum - Education - Microsurgery - Teaching

The authors would like to acknowledge Professor Nigel Stanfield and the London School of Surgery for their support of this project.


This article was presented at the Inaugural Meeting of the International Microsurgery Simulation Society on June 30, 2012 at the Queen Mary, University of London Mile End Campus, in London, UK.




Publication History

Received: 10 February 2013

Accepted: 16 April 2013

Article published online:
01 May 2022

© 2013. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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