[Instituting a surgical skills lab at a training hospital]

The improvement of surgical skills of trainees in Germany often occurs solely in the operating room. In recent years, several countries have established surgical skills labs as an essential part of surgical education, with the goal of improving and refining surgical skills before clinical application. Several years ago, training units were established by the industry wherein the curricula focused on products of the respective company. Selected training courses are still offered in a few clinics. Presently, laboratories which train the surgical skills of novices in an individually adapted form are lacking. A surgical skills lab with a comprehensive curriculum of training courses was introduced at the University Hospital of Marburg in 2005. The present article describes the development and introduction of such facilities. The authors are convinced that surgical skills labs will become increasingly important in German surgical education for improving patient safety in the operating room.