28 How long has the robotic surgery program been going now at Tygerberg Hospital? We started the program in March 2022, so it's been two years since we started the urology robotics program at Tygerberg, How many urologists at your institution have completed the training? Three urology consultants have completed their training, and 6 registrars have been trained as assistants. How many robotic prostatectomies have been done at your institution? Nearly 70 cases have been completed and we have budgeted for approximately 35 cases a year. The robotics learning curve can be challenging, what have been some of the biggest obstacles that you have had to overcome? In our setting, it's balancing the costs against the challenge of getting as many cases done as possible. So, it's a matter of staying within the budget whilst getting enough cases done to get through the learning curve. Another challenge within an academic hospital setting, is that you don't always have the same staff in the robotic theatre, this is contrary to the recommendations, which are that you have the same staff whilst you are progressing through the learning curve. Is there an intention to set up a fellowship program for urologists who want to be trained in robotic surgery? At this stage no, there is not sufcient budget to be able to conduct a fellowship program and maintain service delivery. We will be focusing our efforts on registrar training. We want to ensure that all registrars complete their dry lab training, robotic simulator training and assistant training by the time that they graduate. This means that if they move on to an institution where robotic surgery is available after they graduate as a urologist, they can move straight on to the nal phase of in-patient training under a proctor. An update on the robotic surgery program at the urology department, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg Hospital Dr Pieter Spies is consultant urologist, robotic surgeon and a senior lecturer at the urology department, University of Stellenbosch and Tygerberg Hospital. He is the medical chairman of the Western Cape Branch of the Prostate Cancer Foundation UROLOGY, URO-ONCOLOGY AND SEXOLOGY UPDATE
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