Department of Surgery Surgical Simulation & Skills Laboratory | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Surgical Simulation & Skills Laboratory

sim lab

The Surgical Simulation and Skills Laboratory at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is an integral part of the Department of Surgery’s residency program. Here we follow the ACS/APDS Surgery Resident Skills Curriculum. This allows our General Surgery residents to master essential surgical skills early in their training.

The Skills Curriculum utilizes a basic lab, a laparoscopic lab, a state of the art Simulation Center, as well as a newly constructed Institute of Anatomical Sciences Cadaver Lab. These different venues provide optimal learning environments for certain skill acquisition.

IAS lab

  • In our basic lab, residents are taught the fundamentals of knot tying, suturing, skin flaps, hand-sewn bowel anastomosis, and arterial anastomosis.
  • In our laparoscopic lab, residents are taught the techniques of minimally invasive surgery and are individually prepared for the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic surgery (FLS) exam. 
  • In the simulation center, residents are individually prepared for the Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES) by use of the colonoscopy/esophagogastroduodenoscopy simulator. Residents are also taught proper cricothyroidotomy and tracheostomy techniques in our simulation center
  • In the Institute of Anatomical Sciences, residents participate in 4-6 cadaver labs per year. Each Cadaver lab focuses on teaching surgical maneuvers for certain pillars of General Surgery. These labs include Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET), Colorectal Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Hepatobiliary Surgery, and Thoracic Surgery to name a few.
  • In addition, the residents participate in 4 live tissue labs per year. Each lab helps further development in a particular skill set. These live tissue labs include Robotic surgery, Laparoscopic surgery, and Trauma/Hemostasis.
     

Here at Texas Tech, we enjoy great support from vendors, who help provide for our educational activities with knot trying boards, suture boards, personal laparoscopic trainers, and extra programs in laparoscopic skills and live tissue labs.

The Texas Tech Department of Surgery is also a member of the Texas Association of Surgical Skills Labs (TASSL). TASSL’s mission is to enhance education using simulation based training for surgery residents and other learners by fostering collaboration and research.