A new £3m state-of-the-art surgical skills centre has opened at the Royal College of Surgeons as part of it’s Eagle Project - a scheme to provide the UK with a world-leading surgical training centre by 2010.

The new Wolfson Surgical Skills Centre takes advantage of the Human Tissues Act 2004 which means, for the first time, surgeons can practice surgical techniques on donated human bodies before taking their skills into the hospital operating theatres. 

The RCS says this new  development will allow trainee surgeons to practise putting in new hips and heart valves, developing manual dexterity at a very early stage in their training.

“The new surgical skill workshop will enable the 12,000 surgeons who annually take RCS courses to access hands-on experience in new and existing surgical procedures under expert guidance,” said Dick Rainsbury, Director of Education at the RCS.

“The innovative use of a high-resolution video wall will means trainees will no longer need to travel to access courses. We can now provide education remotely, with courses run from the College and delivered to trainees locally, nationally and internationally.”

The surgical skills workshop will combine the latest simulator training with hands on experience and all of the centre’s tables are interconnected by monitors so that up to 50 surgeons can learn collaboratively at once.

www.rcseng.ac.uk/about/eagle-project-launch

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