Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi Named as Training Center For Advanced Surgery

Abu Dhabi Hospital One of Three Accredited Testing Centers in the MENA Region for Laparoscopic Surgeons

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has been named as a designated testing center for doctors looking to develop and improve minimally invasive surgery techniques, becoming one of only three such centers in the MENA region.

The program, which is a key requirement for physicians seeking board certification in the United States, has been developed to ensure that doctors have the skills and knowledge required to conduct laparoscopies, with the goal of improving quality of care and safety, and reducing complication rates. 

Laparoscopy is a type of minimally invasive surgical procedure that enables surgeons to access the inside of the abdomen and pelvis without having to make large incisions in the skin. This technique reduces pain, decreases hospital stay, and decreases rates of complications such as wound infections and hernia.

“Laparoscopic surgery has become an important option for physicians and patients because it improves patient outcomes and recovery time,” said, Dr. Ricard Corcelles, Staff Surgeon in the Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. “As part of our role as an academic research center, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi continues to look to share our expertise with the wider medical sector, and this is clearly an area where more education and training will lead to better outcomes.”  

The accrediting body, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) the leading US-based laparoscopic surgery society, assessed Cleveland Clinic during a two-day inspection and passed the facility as a test center for the ‘Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery’ (FLS) program in July. Surgeons seeking this certification can now receive hands-on, technical skills-based assessment at the Abu Dhabi hospital. 

The FLS module, ‘Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery,’ is part of a web-based education program which also includes a practical training and skills assessment component. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is one of only three centers in the MENA region to have been accredited by SAGES as a designated test center. 

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi continues to implement educational and research initiatives designed to further enhance the level of healthcare and introduction of advanced technologies in the UAE. At the start 2019, the hospital received institutional accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education International LLC (ACGME-I) for its residency program, joining a select number of elite academic medical centers in the region to earn this distinction.