The Southwestern Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery (SCMIS) has emphasized alternate methods of surgical education from its inception.  The technical expertise required for advanced minimally invasive surgery is not easily taught in the operating room and basic skills are required before novice surgeons may function effectively.  During the last 2 years, we have demonstrated the effectiveness of skills training of residents and effectively used teleconferencing from our operating rooms on an ad hoc basis to improve CME courses.  Technical advances in video teleconferencing and information processing now provide powerful tools to teach surgery in novel ways.

We are now pleased to announce the completion of a dedicated teleconferencing center, which was underwritten by a coalition of surgical departments.  The center is directly connected to three operating rooms at Parkland Memorial Hospital and two at Zale Lipshy University Hospital and contains state-of-the-art electronic equipment which allows integration of clinical data, online access to digital radiological images, interactive viewing of operations from operating rooms, and the ability to teleconference with other sites, both within and outside of UTSW. 

The center is capable of real-time interaction with surgeons in the operating rooms 24 hours per day.    The novel aspect of our plan for the teleconferencing center is to use it daily for teaching of medical students and residents as they rotate through General Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Urology and other surgical subspecialties.  The room is designed to facilitate individual self-directed, as well as group teaching. 

The teleconferencing center has already been used for several recent Continuing Medical Education Courses and greatly enhanced the experience of the attendees.  We are looking forward to future educational activities in this room and know that the center will enhance our ability to provide excellent educational experiences for students, residents, and surgeons in practice.