© Springer International Publishing AG 2018 217
T.S. Köhler, B. Schwartz (eds.), Surgeons as Educators,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64728-9_12
Role of the Surgeon Educator in Leading
Surgical Skills Center Development
Michael R. Romanelli, Jennifer Bartlett, Janet Ketchum,
and Bradley Schwartz
History of the Program
Surgery has historically been at the forefront of the assessment and integration of
surgical skills and simulation into medical curriculum [ 1 ]. In the late 1990s, educa-
tional leaders of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Department of
Surgery recognized a need for progression in the development of their resident’s
skill set outside the traditional environments of the operating room, on the wards,
and in the classroom [ 2 ]. Thanks to the efforts of key leaders in the Department of
Surgery in partnership with one of their teaching hospitals, the SIU Surgical Skills
Lab opened in May of 2000. At that time, the SIU Surgical Skills Lab was one of
only a handful of centers across the country designed solely to train residents and
medical students using surgical skills lab modules; as of 2008, the Residency
Review Committee for General Surgery has mandated all of their US postgraduate
training programs must have surgical skills laboratories as part of their training
facilities [ 3 ].
Increased demands in Graduate Medical Education (GME) have influenced shift
from the traditional apprenticeship model to integrate additional directed skills
M.R. Romanelli, MA (*)
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, J Roland Folse MD Surgical Skills Center,
228 W Miller Street, Springfield, IL 62794-9601, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
J. Bartlett, ST • J. Ketchum, CST
J Roland Folse MD Surgical Skills Center at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine,
Springfield, IL, USA
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
B. Schwartz, DO, FACS
Department of Urology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine,
Springfield, IL, USA
e-mail: [email protected]