Robotic Oncology Center
 
 

Fellowships

A core mission of the UC Irvine Health Robotic Oncology Center is to educate not only the university's residents and fellows, but also the Orange County medical community in robot-assisted surgical procedures and practices.

As part of the only university hospital in Orange County, the center is uniquely situated to offer many educational opportunities that incorporate both lectures and hands-on lab sessions. In fact, UC Irvine's mini-fellowship in robot-assisted surgery is the only training program of its kind in the United States.

The center's highly skilled faculty members regularly, who are part of various departments within UC Irvine Health School of Medicine, make national and international presentations on robot-assisted surgery for prostate cancer, gynecological cancers and gastrointestinal cancers. UC Irvine residents and fellows have the opportunity to perform procedures on inanimate models before moving on to animals and cadavers. They also have an opportunity to assist with surgeries.

The Robotic Oncology Center's two-year Endourological Society-accredited fellowship in laparoscopy and robotic surgery draws surgeons from all over the world who want to learn to operate the da Vinci® Surgical System and advanced robot-assisted surgical techniques. Fellows must complete a basic online training program developed by Intuitive Surgical Inc. before moving to hands-on training.

The center's mini-fellowship program is a unique, one-week educational experience that is limited to two surgeons per course. These fellowships typically focus on prostatectomy, nephrectomy or pyeloplasty. They are designed to train practicing surgeons in the advanced skills needed to perform all types of minimally invasive procedures, including robotic-assisted surgery. The module includes didactic sessions with the preceptor, pelvic trainer and simulator training as well as hands-on laboratory sessions with live animal and/or cadavers.

These fellows also observe several module specific surgery cases at UC Irvine Medical Center and assist or perform minimally invasive procedures side-by-side with their preceptor.