Minimal Invasive CME Programme

The minimal invasive CME programme is a training initiative by ESCP's European School of Coloproctology to promote minimal invasive complete mesocolic excision for colon cancer.

We regret that the October 2023 course in Copenhagen, Denmark has had to be postposed, but will be held at a later date in 2024.

Overall programme

The overall programme aim is to enable skilled minimal invasive surgeons to become proficient in performing minimal invasive CME with central vascular ligation. This is achieved in several steps:

Stage	Description
	Surgeons interested to participate in the programme will be selected according to selection criteria.
	Successful candidates will be invited to a 2-day intensive course.
	On an individual basis, the candidates and the faculty members can arrange visits at the faculty member’s hospital, or the faculty member can proctor the candidates online or in person at their own hospitals. Not included in the fee.

Course

• Two-day course with the aims:
  • To understand the rationale of CME
  • To master the anatomy, preoperative planning and surgical strategy
  • To safely handle intraoperation complications including vascular injury
• Focus will mainly be right-sided colon resections, but left-sided colon resection will be covered
• The course is based on multiple video sessions with focus on anatomy and a standardised stepwise surgical procedure.

Proctorship

• During the course, the highly qualified faculty members and the candidates are able to arrange further cooperation e.g., visit at the faculty members’ hospitals and supervision.

Venue and Dates

• Hotel SP34, Copenhagen, Denmark: Tuesday 24 to Wednesday 25 October 2023

Course structure

Day 1 - 24 October 2023

Day 2 - 25 October 2023

Faculty

• Adam Stearns (Norwich, UK)
• Anders Bertelsen (Hillerød, Denmark)
• Danilo Miskovic (London, UK)
• Heiko Aselmann (Hannover, Germany)
• Kristian Storli (Bergen, Norway)
• Roland Croner (Magdeburg, Germany)
• Stefan Benz (Böblingen, Germany)

Costs

• The overall programme cost is €2200 per surgical team and includes two nights accommodation at Hotel SP34, Copenhagen, Denmark:
• A reduced fee of €1500 may be offered to teams from Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine.
• Costs exclude travel for the two-day course in Copenhagen.

Application process

Selection criteria

• Teams of two surgeons per hospital
• Appropriate experience
  • Surgeons should be proficient in laparoscopic or robot-assisted colorectal surgery
  • Minimum experience 50+ laparoscopic or robot-assisted colorectal resections
  • Board certified (e.g. EBSQ, FRCS, Specialist in General and/or Coloproctology)
• Institutional experience
  • Annual turnover of colon and rectum cancer of >50/year
  • Accessibility to appropriate laparoscopic or robot-assisted infrastructure

This will involve submission of the following:

• Number of following procedures in the last five years:
  • Laparoscopic or robot-assisted segmental colectomy or rectum resection
  • How many operations for colorectal cancer are performed in your unit annually
• CV
• Letter of support from Head of Department or Hospital Director confirming:
  • 1) Laparoscopic or robot-assisted segmental colectomy or rectum resection,
  • 2) How many operations for colorectal cancer are performed in your unit annually
• Maximum capacity of 10 surgical teams of 2 (20 places in total)

Any questions please send to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.for the attention of Vanessa McCourt and Rosemary Parker

Once your registration has been approved by the course organiser, you will then be able to pay the course fees.

APPLICATIONS WILL OPEN IN DUE COURSE