Premier health institution The Medical City (TMC) is set to launch a world-class multi-disciplinary training center that will provide surgical expertise and the ideal environment for skills acquisition for physicians, nurses, technicians and medical students.
The Center for Advanced Skills, Simulation and Training Innovation or CASSTI will open its doors this September to practicing clinicians, fellows and residents from TMC as well as from other training institutions, Operating Room (OR) nurses and technicians, and medical students. The Center will also welcome consultants or physicians who desire to strengthen and refine their clinical and surgical skills.
CASSTI is a collaborative initiative among TMC and key industry stakeholders who will be involved on a per course basis. The Center will be headed by Dr. Deogracias Alberto G. Reyes, TMC surgeon and associate professor at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Reyes will be supported by course directors composed of specialists from the Departments of General Surgery, Colorectal Surgery, Breast Surgery, Gynecology, Head and Neck Surgery, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Airway Management, Intensive Care, and Gastroenterology.
“CASSTI was brought about by the need to effect a change in medical and surgical training. The traditional Halsteadian mindset of ‘see one, do one, teach one’ is not ideal as it does not give the trainee the opportunity to achieve mastery before patient contact,” said Dr. Reyes.
Dr. Reyes added that CASSTI was envisioned to address this need for change along with issues of patient safety and quality healthcare and to provide clinical and surgical skills responsive to world developments and standards of care.
While minimal access surgery has become a requisite in general residency training locally, there is a gap that needs to be filled when it comes to this kind of training. In the global scene, simulation training has been integrated into general surgery training programs using inanimate models, animal phantom models, and virtual reality. The main feature of CASSTI is simulation training.
Currently, there is no institutionalized initiative in the country that integrates animate and inanimate simulation and virtual reality into training. Given its track record in minimally-invasive procedures such as robotic-assisted and laparoscopic surgeries, TMC is in the position to uplift the level of medical care through CASSTI.
According to Dr. Reyes, surgical simulation is a mode of training which is promising and may be effective. Technical errors in the simulated environment do not have clinical consequences and do not involve morbidity or mortality.
CASSTI trainings will be carried out in a controlled and safe environment. A procedure can be deconstructed into its critical steps for more structured and purposeful learning. The Center’s simulation environment will guarantee minimization of error thus achieving a greater level of patient safety. Plus, the ability to repeat and train in the skills laboratory makes training pace appropriate, responsive to the individual’s learning aptitudes and schedule limitations.
CASSTI’s facilities include five endoscopic stations, teleconference capability for live surgery transmission to CASSTI and remote locations, animal laboratory, lecture rooms, video editing stations and a research room. The Center will make use of equipment for simulation which includes alternative inanimate simulator box, inanimate simulator box, and virtual reality simulator.
CASSTI will offer short courses that run from two to five days and post-graduate certificate courses that will run from one to three months. Among the short courses to be offered are clinical courses for General Surgery, ENT, Ophthalmology, and Airway Management.
Short Technical Courses include Instrument Reprocessing and Maintenance, Operative Nursing in Laparoscopic Surgery, and Video Editing. Enrollment in these courses is open to local and foreign participants. Plans to offer a certificate course and a Master’s Degree in Minimal Access Surgery are underway.
CASSTI is located at the lower ground of The Medical City in Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City. For the list of courses and other inquiries, you may call 988-1000 or 988-7000 ext. 6801.