Development of a robotic training curriculum for visceral and gastrointestinal surgical trainees: an international Delphi study

BACKGROUND: The rapid adoption of robotic surgical systems globally has created a critical gap in training, assessment and certification for visceral and gastrointestinal (GI) surgical trainees. This study, led by the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES), aimed to achieve an international consensus on a structured, platform-agnostic robotic training curriculum for GI surgical trainees. METHODS: A 106-item Delphi questionnaire was developed with an international committee of surgical experts, trainees, methodologists and patient representatives. It was disseminated to a multidisciplinary panel of 83 GI robotic surgeons, trainees, human factors experts, robotic theatre team members and industry providers. Two Delphi survey rounds were conducted, with a priori consensus standard set at 70% or higher for agreement. A consensus meeting was subsequently held to discuss and finalise the items needed for a robotic training curriculum for GI surgical trainees. RESULTS: Seventy-one (86%) participants from 15 countries completed round 1. A total of 82 items (77%) reached consensus and 32 new items were generated from free-text comments. Seventy of these participants (99%) completed the 56-item round 2 questionnaire, with 36 items (64%) reaching consensus and 5 new items generated. All 143 statements were discussed in the meeting and consensus was reached in the following areas: (i) key knowledge requirements of the bedside assistant and a console surgeon; (ii) training components; (iii) performance assessment and (iv) certification and supervision. CONCLUSION: International surgical experts, trainees and other key stakeholders reached consensus on the critical components of a platform-agnostic robotic training curriculum for GI surgical trainees. This will help shape the future of robotic surgical education and certification, promote standardised training practices and ultimately benefit patient safety and outcomes.

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Publication Details

Journal
Surgical Endoscopy
Published
2026-06-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-026-12781-x
Primary Topic
Surgical Simulation and Training
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Development of a robotic training curriculum for visceral and gastrointestinal surgical trainees: an international Delphi study

Caoimhe M. Walsh, Giampaolo Formisano, Josephine Walshaw, Barbara Seeliger et al.
Surgical Endoscopy
Surgical Simulation and Training
article

Development of a robotic training curriculum for visceral and gastrointestinal surgical trainees: an international Delphi study

Caoimhe M. Walsh, Giampaolo Formisano, Josephine Walshaw, Barbara Seeliger, L Massey, Gemma Vellalta, Anders Melander, Marina Yiasemidou, Freideriki Sifaki, Giovanni Maria Garbarino, Munir Tarazi, Daniel Campioni-Norman, Sofia Esposito, Christoph Tschuor, Michael G Fadel, Gianluca Pellino, Francesca Pecchini, Antonio D’Urso, Victor Tomulescu, Thalia Petropoulou, Nikolaos Gouvas, Matyas Fehervari, Rosa M. Jiménez-Rodríguez, Pete Wheatstone, Micaela Piccoli, María Rita Rodríguez‐Luna, Michael Devine, Ernesto Tartaglia, Alberto Arezzo, Stella Mavroveli, Tamsin Morrison, Silvana Perretta, Magnus Nilsson, Asma Afzal, Julie Hepburn, R Villalonga, Gita Lingam, Diego Cuccurullo, Bibek Das, Altaf Awan, George B. Hanna, Paolo Bianchi, Nicole Bouvy, Audrius Dulskas, Madeleine Wells, Eloy Espin‐Basany, Piers R. Boshier, Elisa Reitano, Mark van Berge Henegouwen, Ademola Adeyeye, J. Eckhoff, S S Gisbertz, Wanda Petz, Mark Slack, Peter Grimminger, Nicola Eardley, Jim Khan, Peter Buckle, Tayana Soukup, Felix Nickel, Lachlan Dick, ERSC Study Group, Hannah Kettley-Linsell, Ronalyn Hosena, Manish Chand, Matthew Boal, Bijendra Patel, Imran Bhatti, Muhammed Elhadi, James Scott, Sonia Fernández-Ananin, Kapil Sahnan, Niall Fahy, David Chan, Samantha Evans, Lakshmi Balasubramanian, Sara Lazzaretti, Alice Tsai, Martin Wagner, Mauro Podda, Gianmaria Casoni Patticini, Francesco M. Carrano, Shelley Petersen, Stavros A. Antoniou, Benedetto Ielpo, Harald Ginterstorfer, Dolores Krauss, Peter A. Brennan, David Marante, Elizabeth Jones, Theodosopoulos Theodosis, Pietro Mascagni, Nicola de Angelis, Michael Eichlseder, Gregory De Martino, Alexander Bloemendaal, Neli Harvey, Alexandra Aye Ivanuta, Katherine Winger, Michail Klimovskij
article en

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The rapid adoption of robotic surgical systems globally has created a critical gap in training, assessment and certification for visceral and gastrointestinal (GI) surgical trainees. This study, led by the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES), aimed to achieve an international consensus on a structured, platform-agnostic robotic training curriculum for GI surgical trainees. METHODS: A 106-item Delphi questionnaire was developed with an international committee of surgical experts, trainees, methodologists and patient representatives. It was disseminated to a multidisciplinary panel of 83 GI robotic surgeons, trainees, human factors experts, robotic theatre team members and industry providers. Two Delphi survey rounds were conducted, with a priori consensus standard set at 70% or higher for agreement. A consensus meeting was subsequently held to discuss and finalise the items needed for a robotic training curriculum for GI surgical trainees. RESULTS: Seventy-one (86%) participants from 15 countries completed round 1. A total of 82 items (77%) reached consensus and 32 new items were generated from free-text comments. Seventy of these participants (99%) completed the 56-item round 2 questionnaire, with 36 items (64%) reaching consensus and 5 new items generated. All 143 statements were discussed in the meeting and consensus was reached in the following areas: (i) key knowledge requirements of the bedside assistant and a console surgeon; (ii) training components; (iii) performance assessment and (iv) certification and supervision. CONCLUSION: International surgical experts, trainees and other key stakeholders reached consensus on the critical components of a platform-agnostic robotic training curriculum for GI surgical trainees. This will help shape the future of robotic surgical education and certification, promote standardised training practices and ultimately benefit patient safety and outcomes.

Surgical Endoscopy
Leiden University (NL), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (IT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Leeds (GB), Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (GB), Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (GB), Inserm (FR), Universität Hamburg (DE), Barts Health NHS Trust (GB), Tripoli Central Hospital (LY), Royal London Hospital (GB), St James's University Hospital (GB), Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust (GB), Papageorgiou General Hospital (GR), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE), Institut de Recherche contre les Cancers de l’Appareil Digestif (FR), Amsterdam University Medical Centers (NL), University Hospital Cologne (DE), Institut de Chirurgie Guidée par l'Image (FR), Korea University (JP), St Mark's Hospital (GB), Cancer Center Amsterdam (NL), Imperial College London (GB), University of Turin (IT), Université de Strasbourg (FR), University of Amsterdam (NL)
Agence Nationale de la Recherche, European Association for Endoscopic Surgery and other Interventional Techniques
Partnerships for the goals
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Surgical Simulation and Training
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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