SCaLPEL
Surgery Collaborative and Long-term Practical Experience Learning
Supported by Erasmus+ 2021-1-CZ01-KA220-HED-000032237
„The project was funded by the European Commission. The views expressed in this publication (Communication) do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.“
Surgery is one of the fields of medicine where professionals are heavily relying on dexterity and practical application of specialised skill sets during various procedures. Many of such can only be learned via practical experience. The students of medicine undergo phases where they learn the theory of such procedures, then those who are following the path of surgery specialisation observe and assist during surgical procedures and finally, when deemed experienced enough, they may perform the procedures themselves. With each opportunity to practice their surgical skills, the students as well as practicing surgeons gain confidence and experience; more so if they have opportunities to practice outside of the operating rooms on simulators and cadaveric material prior to practicing the procedures on their patients. Surgery Collaborative and Long-term Practical Experience Learning (SCaLPEL) project proposal aims to bring international opportunities for practical hands-on training of surgical skills to postgraduate (PG) students as well as academics from the field of surgery connecting the students and academics from across four institutions - Masaryk University (Czech Republic), University of Zagreb (Croatia), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan with the Medical faculty set in Rome (Italy), Poznan University of Medical Sciences (Poland).

Participating institutions
- Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Italy – contact person: Ms Floriana Conte, email: floriana.conte@unicatt.it
- Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland – contact person: Ms Małgorzata Rumińska, email: sekretariat_k_ock@orsk.pl
- University of Zagreb, Croatia – contact person: Prof. Zdravko Petanjek, MD, Ph.D., email: zdravko.petanjek@mef.hr
- Masaryk University, Czechia (coordinator) – contact person: Bc. Hana Suchá, email: hana.sucha@med.muni.cz
Participating anatomical and surgical specialisation
- Abdominal (gastroenterical/GIT) surgery - contact persons: Dr. Branco Bogdanic, MD, Ph.D., email: dr.bogdanic@gmail.com, MUDr. Tomáš Grolich. Ph.D., email: grolich.tomas@fnbrno.cz
- Anatomy - contact persons: Prof. Zdravko Petanjek, MD, Ph.D., email: zdravko.petanjek@mef.hr, doc. Marek Joukal, Ph.D., email: mjoukal@med.muni.cz
- Neurosurgery - contact persons: Dr. Sergej Marasanov, MD,Ph.D., email: smmarasanov@gmail.com, MUDr. Andrej Mrlian, Ph.D., email: andrejmrlian@gmail.com
- Spondylosurgery - contact persons: Prof. Lukasz Kubaszewski, MD, Ph.D., email: lkubaszewski@orsk.pl, MUDr. Jan Kocanda, Ph.D., kocanda@med.muni.cz
- Plastic surgery - contact persons: Prof. Marzia Salgarello, MD, Ph.D., email: marzia.salgarello@unicatt.it, doc. MUDr. Libor Streit, Ph.D., email: streit.libor@fnbrno.cz
Learning, Teaching, Training Activities
Each of the four surgical specialisations participated in the following type of activities once per year (project duration is 3 years):
C1 - C3: Blended summer schools of surgery
This activity took place physically at Masaryk University (Czechia) - Department of Anatomy and Simulation centre. Here, the participants had a chance to practically train and enhance their surgical skills using simulators and bodies of donors to practice various surgical procedures. There was also a possibility to record the lectures and/or training sessions in dissection room to produce more project results (i.e. videos). The target participants were PG students specialising in surgery (early-career surgeons) and academics (more senior surgeons and anatomists). The project proposed that 2 academics and 4 students from MU will be involved in this activity, as well as 2 academics and 4 students from each partner institution. It was intended that new students would take part in this activity every year. Each surgical specialisation had their own summer school of surgery running yearly for the duration of the project (total number of summer schools was 3 for each of the surgical specialisations. There was also an extra activity organised for anatomists from University of Zagreb. These colleagues visited our department to observe the set up and organisation of the summer school of surgery with. Their goal was to collect know how and inspiration, so they can organise similar activites and specialised surgical courses at their home institution. Following summer schools of surgery were organised as part of this project:
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15th – 19th of August 2022
C1 Spondylosurgery
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31st of July – 4th of August 2023
C2 Spondylosurgery
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17th – 21st of June 2024
C3 Spondylosurgery
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29th of August – 2nd of September 2022
C1 Neurosurgery
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28th of August – 1st of September 2023
C2 Neurosurgery
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26th – 30th of August 2024
C3 Neurosurgery
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30th of June – 7th of July 2022
C1 Plastic surgery
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28th of August – 1st of September 2023
C2 Plastic surgery
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24th –28th of June 2024
C3 Plastic surgery
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23rd – 27th of October 2023
C1 GIT surgery
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13th – 17th of May 2024
C2 GIT surgery
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28th of October – 1st of November 2024
C3 GIT surgery
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28th of October – 1st of November 2024
C3 anatomists
additional event for participants from Croatia
Internship
This activity was closely tied to the Blended Summer schools of surgery (C1-C3), as these were the internships at one of four surgical departments (plastic, neuro, spondylo/orthopaedic, gastrointestinal surgery) of Masaryk University for PG students from our three partner institutions (each of the fours surgical specialisations). The internship was intended to last for 5 days, and gave an opportunity to 4 students to observe, assist and discuss real cases at the foreign surgical departments of their specialisation. The PG students from their respective field of surgery were able to enhance their practical surgical skill via participation in international internships at the partner institution in their respective field of specialisation. The students were able to observe and assist with specialised surgical procedures they might not necessarily encounter at their home institution. The students were under the mentorship of world-renown experienced surgeons and the academics (surgeons) were in turn able to instruct and collaborate with the PG students from a department with possibly slightly different focus to their own, gaining so a different perspective on a given case. It was planned that new PG students would participate in this activity every year for the duration of the project. Following internships were organised as part of this project:
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8th – 12th of August 2022
C16 Spondylosurgery
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7th – 11th of August 2023
C17Spondylosurgery
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24th – 28th of June 2024
C18 Spondylosurgery
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5th – 2nd of September 2022
C16 Neurosurgery
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4th – 8th of September 2023
C17 Neurosurgery
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2nd – 6th of September 2024
C18 Neurosurgery
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11th – 15th of April, 9th – 13th of May, 13th – 17th of June 2022
C16 Plastic surgery
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4th – 8th of September 2023
C17 Plastic surgery
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17th – 21st of June 2024
C18 Plastic surgery
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0th of October – 3rd of November 2023
C16 GIT surgery
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20th – 24th of May 2024
C17 GIT surgery
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4th – 8th of November 2024
C18 GIT surgery
Short course and intership
The short course was proposed to last for 3 days and was intended for the postgraduate students/early career surgeons (4 from the host institution, 4 from Masaryk University) and academics (1 from the host institution, 1 from Masaryk University) working in their respective surgical specialisation. The internship was planned to be tied to the short course (took place either directly before or after the short course). The target group for these internships were PG students from Masaryk University (4 participants). The internship was planned to last for 5 days. This activity gave participants the opportunity to observe, assist and discuss real cases at the foreign surgical departments of their specialisation. Furthermore, they had an opportunity to observe surgical procedures and discuss techniques and approaches practiced by the host department. The PG students were able to enhance their knowledge and practical surgical skills as they were able to observe and assist with specialised surgical procedures they might not necessarily encounter at their home institution. The students were under the mentorship of world-renown senior surgeons and the academics (surgeons) had a great opportunity to instruct and collaborate with the PG students from a department with perhaps a slightly different focus. Therefore, the participating senior surgeons (academics) could gain a different perspective on given case. This activity also helped with increasing of expertise of European surgeons by enhancing the surgical experience of students as well as academics. Moreover, the weekend between the short course and the internship part of the activity was usually filled with a cultural program and exploration of the surroundings which helped with networking and socialisation of the two collaborating teams. Following short courses + internships were organised as part of this project:
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28th of November – 2nd of December 2022
C4 Neurosurgery, Croatia
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18th – 22nd of December 2023
C5 Neurosurgery, Croatia
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16th – 25th of September 2024
C6 Neurosurgery, Croatia
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14th –18th March 2022, 27th March – 4th April 2022, 1st – 14th May 2022, 15th – 21st May 2022
C7 Plastic surgery, Italy
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27th November – 1st December 2023
C8 Plastic surgery, Italy
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13th –17th of May 2024
C9 Plastic surgery, Italy
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11th – 15th November 2024
C9 Plastic surgery (an extra activity), Italy
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4th –13th of October 2023
C10 GIT surgery, Croatia
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4th –13th of October 2023
C10 GIT surgery, Croatia
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10th – 19th of April 2024
C11 GIT surgery, Croatia
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18th – 27th of September 2024
C12 GIT surgery, Croatia
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7th – 16th November 2022
C13 Spondylosurgery, Poland
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31st January – 9th February 2024
C14 Spondylosurgery, Poland
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4th – 13th December 2024
C15 Spondylosurgery, Poland