Human cadaveric uro-oncology (HCU) surgical anatomy course: an “old” but contemporary training method

:Purpose: We evaluated post-course trainees’ satisfaction regarding to learning objectives, hands-on experience and increase overall knowledge of surgical oncological anatomy at the end of each theoretical and handson module with one year survey after the course. Materials and Methods: A total of 25 residents with their last year of residency were participants of this course.The course was given by faculty members of the Urology and Anatomy departments from various universities in our country.The procedures were defined by recommendations of the Turkish Board of Urology Training Program. At the end of each module evaluation of the course by the attendees included anatomy knowledge and surgical skills and were graded 1 to 4.A year telephone survey follow-up was conducted regarding progression report on their practices after the HCU course was given. At one year, the trainees were called to evaluate the efficacy of course (yes/no).Results: All participants completed the survey and 1 year follow-up evaluation after a year post-course demonstrated that the course improved their knowledge of surgical oncological oncology. The first day of the course, the mean satisfaction score was 3.37 and hands-on lab score was 3.55. In the second day, the mean satisfaction score of 3.22 and hands-on lab score was 3.45. Surgical anatomy lectures of radical prostatectomy, radical nephrectomy, radical cystectomy, pelvic lymph node dissection and demonstrational surgeries in cadaver sessions had higher scores than remaining subjects. Conclusion: Uro-oncologic surgical models using human cadavers are a feasible and effective method to learn the anatomical landmarks and surgical technique by in-training urologists.