[Education in endoscopic surgery: courses of endoscopic surgery in Split, Croatia]

Education is very important in endoscopic surgery. It can be performed on endoscopic trainers, live animals, and animal organs, using tissue samples or non-natural materials. Practical work and education can also be performed during the assistance or operating under the supervision. Endoscopic training courses have the important rule, too. We organized three endoscopic courses in Split up to date. The last one lasted 5 days, covered six different topics and included operations on pigs. In comparison with the course in the year 2001, the last course had more participants and lecturers. Lectures, practice and operations took longer time. The interest for attendance was high. The participants were very satisfied, and rated the lectures, practice and operations with the average grade between 4.1 and 4.7 on the anonymous questionnaire at the end of the course. It can be concluded that indispensable education in endoscopic surgery can be performed during endoscopic courses, where participants can reach basic theoretical and practical knowledge and skills. The courses should be permanently improved and modernized, providing a good quality, with interest and engagement of the attendees.