http://www.favellmuseum.org

On November 3-5^th a kick-off meeting was held in MPLSC premises between a delegation from King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and our staff. A representative from Karolinksa  Institutet Simulation Center, Stockholm, Sweden, was also present during the presentations.

Three common research projects have been finalized and will be submitted for funding immediately, while another couple deserves further evaluation.

Last but not least, the basis for promoting a long-term academic and research cooperation between the two Institutions was established.

MPLSC has been selected as one of the 10 worldwide simulation centers to participate in the Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery (FRS) Validation Trial. The review of proposals was performed by external peer-review subject matter experts (SME) and the principal investigators of the project using stringent criteria of scientific merit. A global final review was used for a rank-order-priority because of the large number of proposals.

The FRS is a joint educational program funded through a US Department of Defense grant and an unrestricted educational grant from Intuitive Surgical. It is an innovative, comprehensive, education, training and assessment program for robotic surgeons.