Inaugural Masterclass
The 1st Brady-Vattikuti Robotic Academy Hands-On Masterclass was held 13-18 May 2024 at Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine. This is also the first ever training session Brady Urological Institute has held in its 100+ years in existence.
The Mentors
Ahmed Ezzat Ghazi
Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Program Co-Director
Mahendra Bhandari
CEO,
Vattikuti Foundation
Program Co-Director
Sammy E. Elsamra
Robert Wood Johnson,
University Hospital,
New Brunswick, NJ
Arvin K. George
Associate Prof. (PAR) of Urology, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Dr. Ahmed Ghazi and Dr. Mahendra Bhandari were the course co-directors. Dr. Sammy Elsamra of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Dr. Arvin George of Brady Urological Institute mentored the participants.
All trainees came from India. The motivation to learn and benefit future patients superseded their short-term sacrifices of time away from their families and practices to attend the masterclass.
Devendra
Director Urology,
Uro oncology, Robotic surgery and Renal transplant
Jaipur, India
Rajesh Kumar Reddy Adapala
Consultant Uro-oncologist
Hyderabad,
India
Preetham Dev
Consultant Uro-Oncologist
Sparsh Hospital,
Yelahanka,
Bangalore,
India
Bharat Shankar
Surgical Oncologist,
Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center
Bengalaru, India
Erena Pradhan
Urologist
Norvic International Hospital
Kathmandu,
Nepal
Amit Aggarwal
Vattikuti Fellow
Max Super Specialty
Hospital
New Delhi, India
Rajamaheswari Natarajan
Senior Consultant Urologist, Chennai Urology and Robotics Institute, Chennai, India
Harini Sivamani
Fellow Resident Urogynaecolgy, Chennai Urology and Robotics Institute
Chennai, India
Two lab technicians, Lauren Shepard and Avinash Dhimal, were present throughout the week to support the masterclass and participants.
Dr. Erena Pradhan, technicians Lauren Shepard and Avinash Dhimal, and Dr. Bharat Shankar in the simulation lab at Brady Urological Institute.
The masterclass created excitement around the department, and one person in particular didn’t want to miss out – Dr. Patrick Walsh, the Urology Legend himself.
Using Ghazi’s proprietary simulated training methods, the course featured two procedures: radical prostatectomy & partial nephrectomy.
These short video clips exemplify the realism of Dr. Ghazi’s patented bleeding procedural hydrogel models that are unique in many ways and fabricated to maximize the learners training experience.
Guided simulation training allowed participants to improve their skills on a dedicated Xi training robot in Dr. Ghazi’s Mock OR including partial task trainer models (vesicourethral anastomosis and bleeding enucleation models to replicate tumor resection, etc.) which prepared participants for the full procedural experience.
This rigorous training rotated between the simulation center, OR and observation media room where teams alternated between using surgical set-ups on robot consoles and while the other team focused on the patient side. During the course, all witnessed partial nephrectomy and prostatectomy. The most crucial hours of learning were experienced when the mentors were side-by-side with the trainees, entirely present and focused to obtain in-the-moment feedback on technique at the simulation models. One of the most important opportunities to learn came with videos brought by the participants were discussed at length, where they learned how the procedures could have been done better.
