Background: There is a need for a standardized curriculum for training and assessment of robotic surgeons to proficiency, followed by high-stakes testing (HST) for certification.
Methods: To standardize the curriculum and certification of robotic surgeons, a series of consensus conferences attended by 14 leading international surgical societies have been used to compile the outcomes measures and curriculum that should form the basis for a Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery (FRS) programme.
Results: A set of 25 outcomes measures and a curriculum for teaching the skills needed to safely use current generation surgical robotic systems has been developed and accepted by a committee of experienced robotic surgeons across 14 specialties.
Conclusions: A standardized process for certifying the skills of a robotic surgeon has begun to emerge. The work described here documents both the processes used for developing educational material and the educational content of a robotic curriculum.
Keywords: educational curriculum; outcomes measures; robotic surgery.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.