Surgical Skills Center

The Surgical Skills Center in the Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine was formally accredited in 2019 by the American College of Surgeons as a Comprehensive Education Institute. Equipped with modern simulation tools to aid all surgical learners, from novices to surgeons in practice, these advanced facilities provide opportunities to all trainees in the Department of Surgery to hone individual surgical skills within a low-stakes environment. This structured skills and simulation environment improves performance and patient safety through structured and deliberate practice.

The Department of Surgery is committed to the education and development of excellent clinicians who possess the skills, knowledge, attitudes and abilities essential for providing the highest standard of care to patients across Indiana and beyond.

As an American College of Surgeons Accredited Educational Institute (ACS-AEI), the program offers a two year Surgical Education Research Fellowship. It is a two year professional development opportunity for general surgery and integrated surgical sub-specialty trainees interested in surgical education. Fellows gain experience in surgical simulation and in designing, implementing and evaluating multi-disciplinary educational curricula. Additionally, fellows will design, implement, analyze, present and publish research projects in their field(s) of focus. The scope of impact for these activities will include not only the Department of Surgery but also opportunities for national and international collaboration with other public and private education, simulation, and research centers. Fellows present their works of scholarship at Surgical Education Week (the joint meeting of the Association for Surgical Education and the Association for Program Directors in Surgery), the annual ACS-AEI Simulation Summit in Chicago, Illinois, and at many other clinical meetings with a focus on surgical education. Through these activities, fellows will have access to thought leaders, experienced mentors, previous surgical education fellows, and their peers in surgical education.

Under the leadership of E. Matthew Ritter, MD, MHPE, director of the Surgical Skills Center, and Dimitrios Stefanidis, MD, PhD, surgical education fellowship director, the skills lab curricula involve all residency and fellowship training programs in the Department of Surgery with scheduled sessions throughout the academic year. Trainees observe, practice and evaluate their performance. The Surgical Skills Center is a designated Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Test Center for FES and FLS, and these programs are completed early in the residency curriculum to maximize resident performance.