Microsurgical training course for clinicians and scientists: a 10-year experience at the Munster University Hospital

Background Microsurgical techniques are an important part of clinical and experimental research. Here we present our step-by-step microsurgery training course developed at the Munster University Hospital. The goal of this course was to create a short, modular curriculum with clearly described and easy to follow working steps in accordance with the Guidelines for Training in Surgical Research in Animals by the Academy of Surgical Research. Methods Over the course of 10 years, we conducted an annual 2.5 day (20 h) microsurgical training course with a total of 120 participants. Results Prior to the course, 90% of the participants reported to have never performed a microanastomosis before. During the 10 years a total of 84.2% of the participants performed microanastomoses without assistance, 15% required assistance and only 0.8% failed. Conclusions Our step-by-step microsurgery training course gives a brief overview of the didactic basics and the organization of a microsurgical training course and could serve as a guide for teaching microsurgical skills. During the 2.5-day curriculum, it was possible to teach, and for participants to subsequently perform a microsurgical anastomosis. The independent reproducibility of the learned material after the course is not yet known, therefore further investigations are necessary. With this step-by-step curriculum, we were able to conduct a successful training program, shown by the fact that each participant is able to perform microvascular anastomoses on a reproducible basis.

Automated summary

The microsurgery training course developed at Munster University Hospital over 10 years resulted in 84.2% of participants being able to perform microanastomoses independently, with 15% requiring assistance and only 0.8% failing. Further investigations are necessary to determine the reproducibility of the learned material after the course. Overall, the step-by-step curriculum was successful in training participants to perform microvascular anastomoses.