FELLOWS OF PROF. BALBAY ROBOTIC UROLOGY SYMPOSIUM & COURSE

7-8 January 2023, Saturday & Sunday

COURSE SUMMARY

Prof. M. Derya Balbay
Course President & Faculty
Koç University Hospital
American Hospital
Department of Urology
Istanbul

We successfully completed our Robotic Urology Courses on 7-8 January 2023 and a Robotic Urology Symposium at RMK AIMES Surgical Training Centre in Istanbul. During the symposium, we covered all aspects of robotic urology with many lectures, video presentations and interactive discussions with the participants.

Day 1:

Robotic radical prostatectomy with extended pelvic LN dissection human fresh frozen cadaver course:
We had 2 trainees. Trainees performed insertion of the abdominal ports, robot docking, complete NVB sparing robotic radical prostatectomy with posterior approach, bladder neck sparing, bilateral standard and extended pelvic LN dissection. Urethro-vesical anastomosis with and without barbed sutures were performed. Tips & tricks were explained during the course by the faculty with interactive discussions. Da Vinci robotic simulator training was also included.

Robotic radical cystectomy with intracorporeal ideal loop formation course:

We had 2 trainees. Trainees performed insertion of abdominal ports, robotic radical cystectomy and extended pelvic LN dissection. Following identification of caecum, terminal ileum and appendix, a 20 cm vascular tape was introduced into the abdomen and trainees measured 20 cm terminal ileum that will be spared. Thereafter, bed-side assistant introduced laparoscopic ileal stapler to segregate 20 cm ileum following sparing 20 cm terminal ileum to be used for intracorporeal ileal loop. Left ureter was passed to the right side below the sigmoid colon. A Wallace type uretero-ureteral and ureteroileal anastomosis was performed. JJ stents were used during the anastomosis. Intracorporeal ileal loop formation is completed. Tips & tricks are explained during the course by the faculty with interactive discussions. Da Vinci robotic simulator training was also included.

Day-2:

Robotic upper urinary tract porcine model course:

We had 2 trainees for 1 kidney. Trainees performed abdominalal port insertion, robot docking, renal pedicle dissection, robotic partial nephrectomy (upper pole, medial lobe, lower pole and heni-nephrectomy), robotic nephrectomy, ureteral dissection and uretero-ureterostomy. Tips & tricks were explained during the course by the faculty with interactive discussions. Da Vinci robotic simulator training was also included.

It has been almost 15 years since I have started robotic urology in Ankara. Since then, I have worked with many residents and colleques. I tried to share all my experience with my friends and we have helped each other to grow, mature and gain experience altogether. Initially majority of “the robotic group” consisted of those urologists, from Ankara or its vicinity. After my period in Ankara, “core goup” not only continued the same mission but also improved and expanded it by including new colleques interested in robotic surgery sharing their expertise with them, which grew our robotic family. This group now has many surgeons from across the country. Some of us like Prof. Dr. Erdem Canda has become an internationally known and recognized robotic urologist. Dr. Canda is a member of ERUS board and with his great efforts, two centers from Türkiye receieved titles of “Recognized Center For Robotic Urology Training” namely Yıldırımbeyazıt University in Ankara and Koç Unviersity in Istanbul.

From my stanpoint of view, at the end of this course and symposium, which came true with great efforts of Prof. Dr. Canda, I have been a very pleasent to witness that how all of my former residents and fellows who had learnt robotic urology from me are far ahead of myself. Without any doubt, we as “the group” once again proved that “kowledge and success continue to grow as we share”

Best regards and hope to see all of you farther ahead of me in our future meetings.

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FACULTY COMMENTS

Prof. Abolfazl Hosseini
Guest Faculty
Basel University Hospital
Department of Urology
Basel, Switzerland

It was 2 wonderful days to be in Istanbul.
The courses were very well organised, combination of so many robotic urology procedures on a cadaver and a robotic symposium.
The social program was wonderful.
I have to congratulate Prof. Canda and Prof Balbay for such a high quality meeting and thanks very much for inviting me.

Prof. Yılmaz Aslan
Memorial Bahçelievler Hospital
Department of Urology
Istanbul

Firstly, I would like to thanks you for inviting me as a faculty.
I have served as a faculty and proctor in many national and international training center and I must say that this training center is very special because you can do many courses at the same time here. RMK AIMES can offer dry lab, wet lab, POP trainers, porcine models and cadaver models at the same time which I think is a great advantage.
During 2-day period, we had a wonderful robotic urology symposium and at the same time we performed robotic prostate cancer surgery, robotic bladder cancer surgery with ileal loop and robotic kidney surgery on the same human fresh frozen cadaver that made this course very efficient.

Prof.A.Erdem Canda
Course Secretary & Faculty
Director, RMK AIMES
Koç University Hospital
Department of Urology
Istanbul

It was wonderful to meet our colleagues who joined us from different parts of our country during the robotic urology symposium.
We also had 3 robotic urology human fresh frozen cadaver courses that included most frequently performed robotic urologic procedures: Robotic radical prostatectomy, robotic upper urinary tract surgery and robotic cystectomy with intracorporeal ileal loop.

Prof. Melih Balcı
Memorial Bahçelievler Hospital
Department of Urology
Istanbul

It was a very well organized course and symposium with high scientific content that served the purpose very well.
Laparoscopic and robotic surgery is a technically demanding field of urology, and few people have the expertise to work in this field. In this course, we had the chance to teach trainees complex skills that are in high demand.
The fact that the RMK AIMES training center has all kinds of facilities such as dry lab, wet lab, smilator and cadaver offers you a unique opportunity for trainees to practice and perfect their laparoscopic and robotic technical skills in a high feedback environment.

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COURSE & SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANTS’ COMMENTS

Dr. Armin Henning
Department for Urology and Andrology
Klinik Donaustadt
Vienna, Austria

It was a very warm welcome and everybody was very very friendly with me.
I felt very safe here. The course was practically oriented, very well structured and organized. I started with the robotic simulator training and than proceeded with the human fresh frozen robotic prostatectomy course. I had many personal proctoring and mentoring by the faculty. I was lucky to have probably the best robotic experts in Turkey to give this course and that was a unique experience.
I also watched live cases in the operating room after the course.

Dr. Waseem Tayeb
King Abdullah Medical city KAMC,
Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Robotic human fresh frozen cadaver upper urinary tract course.
I am so happy to be here in this center, well organized course, I got benefit too much from the wet lab on cadaver. It was a nice experience. How to approach and manupilate with the experts we had a lot of experience with partial nephrectomy and adrenaled.

Dr. Majed Sejiny
Assistant Professor
Consultant Urologist
University of Jeddah
Department of Urology
Saudi Arabia

Robotic human fresh frozen cadaver upper urinary tract course. It is my pleasure to join this course in this huge center. I am very impressed with the institute. It is brand new and very advanced center. I had training on the robotic simulators and human fresh frozen cadaver. I am particularly impressed with the quality of the cadaver tissues. It is an excellent experience. I like everything here.

Dr. Barış Nuhoğlu & Dr. Nusret Can Çilesiz
Biruni University
Department of Urology
Istanbul

It was a highly productive and beneficial meeting. The presentations were interactive and engaging. Some suggestions for improvement would include:
Making this meeting an annual event and repeating it each year
Encouraging more interactive discussion formats during presentations
Offering continued courses and sessions as part of the meeting (to ensure continuity throughout the year)
Publishing the uropedia-style presentations and surgeries online for wider access.
Thank you.

Özgür Çakmak, MD, FEBU
Associate Professor of Urology
İzmir Medicana International Hospital
Department of Urology
İzmir, TR

Robotic NVB Sparing Radical Prostatectomy, Extended Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection & Robotic Radical Cystectomy with Intracorporeal Ileal Loop Formation Human Fresh Frozen Cadaver Course’ has been very much satisfactory in terms of hands-on training & also scientific basis. I would like to thank to organising commiitee very much for this course.

Associate Prof. Murat Keske
University of Health Sciences
Kayseri City Hospital
Department of Urology
Kayseri

The robotic and laparoscopic surgery symposium organized by Koç University and RMK AIMES exceeded my expectations with its well-planned program in terms of both scientific content and physical facilities. I would like to express my gratitude to my educator, Dr. A. Erdem Canda, for organizing this event and to my instructor, Dr. M. Derya Balbay, who is the cornerstone of the clinic where I received my training and who has provided a foundation for many academicians.

Dr. Serdar Çakmak
Ali Osman Sönmez Oncology Hospital
Department of Urology
Bursa

The robotic urology symposium that I attended at RMK AIMES was highly informative and outstanding in terms of its physical facilities. I hope that this unique symposium, organized by my esteemed instructor Dr. A. Erdem Canda, will continue in the future. My sincerest thanks to my academic mentors who have guided us.

Associate Prof. Muhammet Fuat Özcan
Demirtepe Life Hospital
Department of Urology
Ankara

I hope this symposium will continue in various cities, where the sharing of knowledge and experience is at a high level and scientifically productive.
Best regards.

Associate Prof. Uygar Miçoğulları
Can Hospital
Department of Urology
Izmir

The Robotic/Laparoscopic Urology Symposium, organized by Dr. Erdem Canda, an esteemed asset for Turkish and global academia, in honor of the renowned scientist Dr. Derya Balbay, at Koç University RMK AIMES, is truly unparalleled in the world in terms of both its scientific content and physical conditions. A rare and exceptional event. I believe it is an essential platform for all urologists to stay informed and trained on technological developments. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to the organization.

Associate Prof. Özer Ural Çakıcı
Private Practice
Ankara

Dear organization team, dear faculty members,
During my residency, I had the opportunity to meet my instructor, Dr. Derya Balbay, and was thrilled to attend this wonderful symposium in his honor. As an interesting anecdote, I first met him on the day I began my residency, as he was leaving the institution.
I would like to highlight a characteristic of my dear educator, whose contributions to the country are widely known, that I admire the most and that I believe is one of the most important personal characteristics for anyone: our esteemed professor shared all the information he had acquired during his career abroad, through various visits or personal friendships, as soon as he returned, without any hierarchy, and made it available to everyone around him. Again and again, we are grateful for this remarkable quality of his.

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PHOTOS