SCaLPEL 2.0
Surgery Collaborative and Long-term Practical Experience Learning 2.0
Supported by Erasmus+ 2024-1-CZ01-KA220-HED-000252420
„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 2.0 (SCaLPEL 2.0) is a second round of a project that aims to bring international opportunities for practical hands-on training of surgical skills to surgeons of various seniority and students interested in pursuing surgical professional pathway. This time, we are connecting students and professionals from across four institutions - Masaryk University (Czechia), Innsbruck Medical University (Austria), University of Zagreb (Croatia), and Uppsala University (Sweden).
Participating institutions
- Masaryk University, Czechia (coordinator)
- Innsbruck Medical University , Austria
- University of Zagreb, Croatia
- Uppsala University, Sweden
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. Ondra Petr, Ph.D., DBA, email: ondra.petr@yahoo.com, MUDr. Andrej Mrlian, Ph.D., email: andrejmrlian@gmail.com
- Plastic surgery - contact persons: Prof. Andres Rodriguez Lorenzo, MD, Ph.D., email: andres.rodriguez.lorenzo@uu.se, doc. MUDr. Libor Streit, Ph.D., email: streit.libor@fnbrno.cz
Project Activities
Summer schools of surgery
During this activity, the participants (mainly early-career surgeons under the supervision of more senior colleagues) have a chance to practically train and enhance their surgical skills using simulators and bodies of donors to practice various surgical procedures. Each surgical specialisation has their own summer school of surgery running yearly for the duration of the project (3 years).
Following summer schools of surgery were organised so far:
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16th – 20th of June 2025
Plastic surgery
at Department of Anatomy, Masaryk University
-
25th – 29th of August 2025
Neurosurgery
at Department of Anatomy, Masaryk University
-
10th – 14th of November 2025
GIT surgery
at Department of Anatomy, Masaryk University
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Following summer schools of surgery are planned for the year 2026:
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24th– 28th of August 2026
Plastic surgery
at Department of Anatomy, Masaryk University
-
24th – 28th of August 2026
Neurosurgery
at Department of Anatomy, Masaryk University
-
21st – 25th of September 2026
GIT surgery
at Department of Anatomy, Masaryk University
Internships
The internship gives an opportunity to 30 surgeons to observe, assist during surgeries, and discuss real cases at partner foreign surgical departments of their specialisation for the duration of 5 days. There are 3 surgical specialisations taking part in the project, therefore the total number of internship places is 90 spanning throughout the whole duration of the project. The participants have an opportunity to exchange knowledge, perspectives, and experience in their partner departments among world-renowned and highly experienced colleagues. Following internships were organised so far:
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5th – 9th of May 2025
Plastic surgery
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12th – 16th of May 2025
Plastic surgery
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• 6th – 10th of October 2025
GIT surgery
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20th – 24th of October 2025
Plastic surgery
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3rd – 7th of November 2025
GIT surgery
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15th – 19th of December 2025
Neurosurgery
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23rd – 27th of February 2026
Neurosurgery
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9th – 13th of March 2026
Neurosurgery
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20th – 24th of April 2026
GIT surgery
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25th – 29th of May 2026
Plastic surgery
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1st – 5th of June 2026
Plastic surgery
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8th – 12th of June 2026
Plastic surgery
Photo gallery:
Project Results
Project Results
All produced project results will be available via MEFANET. During the project, each of the three surgical specialisations produces the following type of project results:
Clinical anatomy videos, videos of surgical procedures in live patients and training of surgical procedures on bodies of donors
The package will contain videos from various topics of clinical anatomy, live surgical procedures, and videos of training surgical procedures relevant to and practiced at each summer school of surgery. The topics of these videos are related to the topics for each surgical specialisation at each summer school of surgery and short training courses. The clinical anatomy videos are recorded lectures either presented directly during the activities or deposited on the platform to be watched later. In line with the project proposal, the rest of the videos are mainly live recordings of surgical procedures, segments of these surgical procedures, as well as some theoretical lecture materials explaining the steps of procedures. These videos are aimed mainly at postgraduate medical students attending the learning, teaching and training activities and eventually at any medical healthcare professional interested in enhancing their knowledge and experience in specific surgical method. Wider target group is also undergraduate students studying towards medical degree or specialisation in surgery.
Case studies
Case study materials are collections of case reports and any materials with relevant images from various imaging examinations and/or relevant videos from surgical procedures of patients with different medical problems – common and rare ones. The cases were presented during online meetings and solutions to these cases were discussed as part of these meetings. These sessions were designed to contrast and compare the procedures followed at different parter departments, to discuss any advantages/problematic areas and/or complications and to allow discussion of these problems between early-career surgeons and more senior professionals.