SKIMS partners with India Medtronic for surgical skills lab in Srinagar

Srinagar: Sher-I-Kashmir Institute Of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and India Medtronic Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medtronic plc, announced their partnership on Saturday for a new surgical skills lab at SKIMS.

The lab was e-inaugurated by Chief Secretary, J&K, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta in the presence of Director SKIMS, Dr. A.G Ahangar, Prashant Krishnan, Sr. Director, Surgical and ENT Therapies, Medtronic India and other key dignitaries.

A spokesperson of SKIMS said the surgical skill lab “will help in the training and development of young surgeons in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Chief Secretary, Dr. Mehta, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion said: “The lab will help students and faculty of SKIMS to train themselves on MIS in Institute only rather than travelling outside. SKIMS is a pioneer in producing highly skilled medicos who have made a mark at global level and appreciated SKIMS administration for making available technically advanced infrastructure to benefit students which eventually improves patient care.”

Director SKIMS, Dr. Ahangar while speaking on the occasion said: “Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar is one of the leading Institutions in the Country in providing healthcare to the people of J&K and Ladakh. Being the largest deemed medical university, it is continuously striving to set and maintain high standards in imparting medical education with highest number of scholars/students from across the country for undergoing their training at Postdoctoral, Postgraduate, Doctoral and Undergraduate levels.”         

Dr. Ahangar said in order to enhance the surgical skills of surgeons, the state-of-the-art skill development training centre has been established with an aim of imparting life support training and teaching to undergraduates, postgraduates, post-doctoral Students, fellows and faculty members.

“The Centre will focus on courses like Basic & Advanced Surgical Skill Courses, Basic and Advanced Laparoscopic Skill Courses, Microscopic Suturing Endoscopic Training etc. I am highly thankful to Medtronic India for partnering in setting up the Skill Lab and their constant support and services they have been providing through this collaboration,” he said

Commenting on the inauguration, Prashant Krishnan, senior director, Surgical & ENT Therapies, Medtronic India said: “Medtronic aims to improve access to healthcare in India through training and education of young surgeons giving them greater ownership and engagement in their ongoing professional development.  The surgical skills lab will enhance patient safety by providing a simulated environment where students can learn and advance their technical skills before performing procedures on a patient. Together with a premier institute like SKIMS, we aim to drive Skill India and take healthcare in J&K further, together.”

The Skill Lab, as per the spokesperson, has been developed to aid surgeons to overcome the challenging learning curve to obtain laparoscopic expertise. The partnership will focus on following main areas:

·        Providing training, replicating real-world environments, using state-of-the-art technology and teaching methods to enhance their skills and quickly adopt minimally invasive way of surgery.

·        Assist residents & young surgeons in honing their skills on basic and advance suturing, laparoscopy, hand-eye coordination for laparoscopy.

·        Prepping future surgeons, thereby adding value to health systems across J&K to address prevalent capacity and awareness barriers along with increasing patient access to various Innovative therapies in the future.

The comprehensive surgical skills lab will feature endotrainers, laparoscopic suturing stations, airway management systems to help budding surgeons deepen their expertise in the surgical field.  The skills lab aims to improve the skills of budding surgeons and provide an overall appreciation and understanding of minimally invasive surgery which in turn helps reduce burden on healthcare infrastructure with improved patient outcomes, reduced hospital stay, overall reduction in cost of hospitalization and faster recovery.