Richard J Shemin, MD, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, discusses the future of cardiothoracic surgery, which may see such innovations as the development of technology to teach young surgeons the skill sets required to operate robotic surgical devices, and development of ways to grow cardiac muscle for patients with lost myocardium.

Readings:

Moles JJ, Connelly PE, Sarti EE, Baredes S. Establishing a training program for residents in robotic surgery. Laryngoscope. 2009 Oct;119(10):1927-31.

Amodeo A, Linares Quevedo A, Joseph JV, Belgrano E, Patel HR. Robotic laparoscopic surgery: cost and training. Minerva Urol Nefrol. 2009 Jun;61(2):121-8. Review.

Mukherjee M, Siu KC, Suh IH, Klutman A, Oleynikov D, Stergiou N. A virtual reality training program for improvement of robotic surgical skills. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2009;142:210-4.

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