Robotic Surgery

As the only training center in the Mountain West, the University of Utah has to be at the cutting edge of training in all areas. This includes robotic surgery. Our surgery program utilizes five Davinci Xi robots. You will begin your exposure to robotic surgery as a PGY-1. During this time, you will complete the online curriculum and work on mastering the basics or robot docking and instrument changes. You will also have the opportunity to operate at the robot console. As you master exercises on the robotic surgery simulator, you will get to do more at the console. It is expected, by the end of training, that you will meet all the requirements to obtain an equivalency certificate that can be used to obtain robotic surgery privileges. The decision of competence in robotic surgery is made by the surgery faculty.

Lastly, there is a push being made for use of a “Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery” test, similar to Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery. If this is implemented, the program is already prepared. 

Our current requirements for robotic surgery are:

• Completion of the Davinci online curriculum
• Completion of docking training (not on patients)
• Completion of instrumentation training (not on patients)
• Completion of simulation exercises, tracked by the SimNow program
• Bedside assistant for five cases
• Console surgeon

Rotations where robotic surgery is performed:

• University General Surgery
• University Colorectal Surgery
• University Thoracic Surgery
• VA General Surgery
• IMC General Surgery