PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Daniel W. Birch
AU  - H. Jaap Bonjer
AU  - Claire Crossley
AU  - Gayle Burnett
AU  - Chris de Gara
AU  - Anthony Gomes
AU  - John Hagen
AU  - Angus G. Maciver
AU  - C. Dale Mercer
AU  - O. Neely Panton
AU  - Chris M. Schlachta
AU  - Andy J. Smith
AU  - Garth L. Warnock
ED  - ,
TI  - Canadian consensus conference on the development of training and practice standards in advanced minimally invasive surgery
DP  - 2009 Aug 01
TA  - Canadian Journal of Surgery
PG  - 321--327
VI  - 52
IP  - 4
4099  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/52/4/321.short
4100  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/52/4/321.full
SO  - CAN J SURG2009 Aug 01; 52
AB  - Despite the complexities of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), a Canadian approach to training surgeons in this field does not exist. Whereas a limited number of surgeons are fellowship-trained in the specialty, guidelines are still clearly needed to implement advanced MIS. Leaders in the field of gastrointestinal surgery and MIS attended a consensus conference where they proposed a comprehensive mentoring program that may evolve into a framework for a national mentoring and training system. Leadership and commitment from national experts to define the most appropriate template for introducing new surgical techniques into practice is required. This national framework should also provide flexibility for truly novel procedures such as natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery.