OBGYN Surgical Skills Lab and OBGYN Simulation

With the advent of increasingly sophisticated simulation experiences, our residents are able to take advantage of the myriad of educational opportunities on offer with our program. The Department Chair, Dr Stephen DePasquale, and Program Director, Dr Angie Yates, have made surgical skills and simulation an educational top priority with dedicated “protected time” every week by a board certified OBGYN faculty member. Historically, our program has placed the  emphasis on early PGY-1 education in the skills lab to help establish solid fundamentals of surgery. While we still maintain this educational tenet, we have added PGY-2s through PGY-4s to the Surgical Skills Lab in an effort to teach more advanced skills while honing the fundamentals. Our goal is to create world class OBGYNs who are confident and capable of providing the entire complement of OBGYN services upon graduation.

The Surgical Skills Lab Director, Dr Frederick Bossert, has developed a year long surgical curriculum in conjunction with ACOG/CREOG (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology/Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology) standards that encapsulates the procedures of our craft. Dr Bossert prides himself on making the “skills lab” a safe space for learning by encouraging open and honest discussion without judgment. Dr Bossert elucidates this concept by stating, “we all had to start somewhere, and we all make mistakes. We are all human, and we all want to do our best. Ask the dumb questions, make the dumb mistakes. That is how we learn best, by doing without fear.”

In addition to having a set curriculum for surgical skills, Dr Bossert and the lab offer ongoing and recurrent training to those who need a refresher or are struggling with a particular skill. All residents have the opportunity to be strong surgeons. We also have a left-handed surgeon mentoring program. No one is left behind.

While various types of simulations are integrated into the Surgical Skills curriculum, we have several separate high fidelity simulators that are used for program wide drills and exercises. We have an Obstetrical Simulator that we use in conjunction with the stellar Erlanger Health System staff and Clinical Resource Specialist educators to create a very intense and realistic experience. In conjunction with live actors, this simulator can cover shoulder dystocia and operative deliveries to hemorrhage and ACLS. The realism and high fidelity allows us to “train like you fight, and fight like you train." Our gynecology simulation includes the DaVinci Robot, FLS (Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery) sims, AAGL (American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists) EMIGS (Essentials in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery) laparoscopic simulator, and AAGL EMIGS hysteroscopic simulator. 
World class training starts here.