Primary Training Course for Laparoscopic Liver Resection in Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Gets Accreditation from the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS)

Founded in1368, the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has the longest history of surgical training, and is one of the sources of modern surgery. It is the world's most well-known organization which offers professional membership to surgeons and which supports over 20,000 members in the UK and internationally by improving their skills and knowledge, facilitating research and by developing policy and guidance.The Royal College of Surgeons not only created a wide range of surgical training systems, training courses and evaluation criteria for training effectiveness, but it is also the pioneering and innovation driver for a standardized surgical examination system, and has already successfully promoted this system worldwide.

On September 8, 2015, Professor Paul O’Flynn, the chair of Quality Assurance and Operational Group for RCS, came to Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital with a group of experts for a thorough evaluation of the software and hardware facilities, training courses and management system of the hospital’s minimally invasive training center. In the afternoon, the RCS experts met with leading faculty members (Prof. CAI Xiu-jun, Prof. CHEN Ya-jin, Prof. LIU Lian-xin, Prof. ZHENG Shu-guo, Prof. YIN Xin-min, Prof. YU Hong) for an in-depth interview regarding the preliminary design, operation, evaluation, and educational management of the course.The whole certification progress went very smoothly. The exceptional management and high standard of the surgical training platform won heartfelt praise from the RCS experts.

After three months of accreditation evaluation in London, the Minimally Invasive Training Center and the "Primary Training Course for Laparoscopic Liver Resection" offered at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH) were officially certified by RCS on February 2016. This course is the only liver related course in China certified by the RCS so far. 

“As an international hospital in China mainland, we pay close attention to surgical training. Therefore, we leverage the advantage of minimally invasive surgery from our hospital as well as the cooperation with RCS to achieve the first certified laparoscopic liver surgical training program in China. We aim to establish a platform that has the highest standard of surgical training.” Professor CAI Xiu-jun,President of SRRSH said.

The training center at SRRSH also has close cooperation with a number of other international organizations. In 2012, the 1st Cardiovascular Emergency Training Center in China was accredited here by the American Heart Association. In 2013, the Respiratory Therapy Training Center was accredited with a secondary certification by the American Society for Respiratory Therapy. In 2014, a program of Standardization Training for Residents made SRRSH among the first batch of national bases in China, and so forth.

Standardized surgical training is very important for the development of careers for surgeons in the long run. Although much attention has been paid to it lately, standardization is still in the initial stage in China. “Through cooperation with first-class international surgical training institutions, we can rapidly improve the capabilities of our surgical training center and programs. In the future, we will further strengthen cooperation with global well-known institutions to elevate our surgical training to the next level,” Professor CAI said at the Authentication and Award Ceremony of Primary Training Course for Laparoscopic Liver Resection by The Royal College of Surgeons of England on October 29, 2016.

Manuscript By XU Junjie