For immediate release: Sept. 18, 2009
Contact Edgar Antonio Nunez
Office of Health Science Communications
enunez@medicine.nevada.edu
Shawn Tsuda, M.D. Will Lead First-Ever ‘Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery’ Program in Southern Nevada
Program a Requirement for American Board of Surgery Certification
LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Shawn Tsuda, M.D., chief of minimally invasive and bariatric surgery and director of the surgical skills and simulation laboratory at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, will conduct the first-ever skills enhancement and assessment course and certification,“The Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery,” in Southern Nevada.
The program will take place on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.
Ten full-time surgery faculty and three surgery physician residents from the School of Medicine will participate in the first session at the newly opened Clinical Simulation Center in Las Vegas. The center is a collaborative initiative between the School of Medicine, University of Nevada Las Vegas and Nevada State College. The center, which is the setting for the medical school’s surgical skills laboratory, is the region’s only testing center for the laparoscopic surgery program.
“The laparoscopic surgery program will allow surgeons to improve their skills and the curriculum focuses on patient safety,” says Dr. Tsuda. “The goal is to get every general surgeon in our community certified.”
The laparoscopic surgery program is now a requirement to attain American Board of Surgery certification. Dr. Tsuda is currently the sole official test proctor in the region, which includes Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
The “Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery” is a comprehensive web-based education module that includes a hands-on skills training component and assessment tool designed to teach the physiology, fundamental knowledge, and technical skills required in basic laparoscopic surgery.
The program is designed for surgery residents, surgery fellows and practicing surgeons to learn and practice laparoscopic skills to have the opportunity to definitely measure and document those skills. The test measures cognitive knowledge, case and problem management skills and manual dexterity.
Visit Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery for more information.
Dr. Tsuda can be reached at the Patient Care Center at 702-671-5150 for more information.
As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been a leader in healthcare, medical education and research in Nevada since 1969. The School of Medicine includes 16 clinical departments including family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and five nationally recognized departments in basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. The more than 185 doctors of University Health System, the school’s clinical practice, offer care in more than 40 medical specialties and subspecialties with eight physician offices in the Reno/Sparks area and seven in Las Vegas. The school is committed to a best practices approach to medicine and is dedicated to exceptional healthcare for Nevada now and in the future. For more information visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.