Introduction

With the introduction of the European Working Time Directive, additional training time over and above one’s contracted hours are perceived to be necessary in order to achieve proficiency in surgical skills. However opportunities to perform, or even assist, in the operating theatre are competed for by many trainees and restricted due to limited number of operative lists and cases. The situation is aggravated by the small but significant number of consultants who are unsympathetic to the plight of the modern junior doctor and continue to perform procedures themselves instead of delegating them to the trainee.

Thus it falls upon the junior doctor themselves to seek opportunities to gain the skills required for the necessary progression of training. In the spirit of adult/independent learning, I invite anyone interested in performing laparoscopic surgery to try the setup detailed in the following blog posts.

Over the coming months I also hope to upload some tutorial videos to YouTube or other equivalent video sharing site.

I would also like to commend The Clinical Teacher‘s video on how to assemble one’s own laparoscopic practice box. It is the most realistic practice box I have come across, and highly recommend this as an alternative. However I suspect that not every doctor will have easy access to the necessary power tools required for its assembly!

Hence I shall present an alternative setup with (I believe) equipment that is almost universally accessible, and requiring the minimum of effort to set up.

– Dr. Minesh Mistry
FY2 Doctor
United Kingdom.