Collection
Surgical Education, Telementoring and Devices
Educational content from recorded physician discussions — not medical advice. Always talk to your child's care team about your child's situation.
Content of this collection
The skill acquisition model consists of 5 steps: course attendance, trainee observes expert, trainee performs with expert watching, telementoring, and teleproctoring Surgical Skill Acquisition in the Modern Era: Comparative Technology in... · 3:30
Telementoring symposium introduction: Comparative Technology in Telementoring...
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Telementoring leaders including Drs Steve Rothenberg, Shafi Ahmed, Brian Dunkin, Conor Delaney, Knut Magne Augestad, and Todd Ponsky,discuss cases using current available methods for surgicaltelementoring. Dr. Todd Ponsky introduces the fac
video6:33 · Jan 2019
Surgical Skill Acquisition in the Modern Era: Comparative Technology in...
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Telementoring leaders including Drs Steve Rothenberg, Shafi Ahmed, Brian Dunkin, Conor Delaney, Knut Magne Augestad, and Todd Ponsky,discuss cases using current available methods for surgicaltelementoring.In this session,Dr. Todd Ponsky pre
video13:39 · Jan 2019
Surgical telementoring-emerging technologies: Comparative Technology in...
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Telementoring leaders including Drs Steve Rothenberg, Shafi Ahmed, Brian Dunkin, Conor Delaney, Knut Magne Augestad, and Todd Ponsky,discuss cases using current available methods for surgicaltelementoringDuring this session, Dr. Knut Magne
video30:18 · Jan 2019
Telementoring panel discussion: Comparative Technology in Telementoring 2016
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Telementoring leaders including Drs Steve Rothenberg, Shafi Ahmed, Brian Dunkin, Conor Delaney, Knut Magne Augestad, and Todd Ponsky, discuss cases using current available methods for surgical telementoring. This session includes panel disc
video13:17 · Jan 2019
Mentoring+Technology+Progression-HD
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Surgical content by Dr. Steve Rothenberg — Telemedicine & Innovation
video4:36 · May 2026
SAGES Telemedicine
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Surgical content by Dr. Steve Rothenberg — Telemedicine & Innovation
article · May 2026
Telementoring Vail 2015
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Surgical content by Dr. Steve Rothenberg — Telemedicine & Innovation
article · May 2026
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Expert statements from the recordings in this collection.
Telementoring panel discussion: Comparative Technology in Telementoring 2016
Google Glass has been off the market for approximately one year as of this discussion
Brian0:06
Google Glass battery life and recording time were limited to approximately 15 minutes for surgical telementoring applications
Brian2:10
Google Glass generated uncomfortable heat buildup on the user's head during extended use
Brian2:20
Google Glass resolution was insufficient for illustrating tissue planes and fine surgical detail required for effective telestration in surgical mentoring
Brian1:30
Pristine company stripped Google Glass operating system down to essential communication functions to extend battery life and reduce heat buildup
Brian2:35
For meaningful surgical cases, Google Glass required wired connection to external battery pack due to insufficient internal battery duration
Brian2:50
In robotic surgery the virtual surgeon physically performs tasks on the patient, crossing from mentorship into direct intervention
Todd Ponsky3:04
Four to five companies are developing robust telestration systems expected to launch within the next year
Todd Ponsky4:00
64% of audience members believe the mentor should not have a prior relationship with the patient
A recently published paper projects a shortage of 2000 to 3000 general surgeons in the United States within a few years
Europe will face similar general surgeon shortages to those projected in the United States
In the early days of the American Board of Surgery, examiners came to the operating room to observe candidates operate as part of the certification examination process
United States board certification for surgeons requires written or oral testing but does not verify actual surgical skill
Todd Ponsky7:00
Patient outcome is directly related to surgeon technical ability according to available data
Institutions seeking value-based care will want to ensure the best technical surgical ability is delivered to their patients
There is a lack of good quality studies on surgical telementoring due to logistical obstacles and cumbersome technology
Knut11:00
Current telementoring research consists of small case series of 10, 15, or 20 cases rather than large-scale studies
Knut11:35
Surgeon mentality including ego, reluctance to show weakness, and hesitancy to ask for help represents one of the biggest hurdles to telementoring adoption
Policymakers view telemedicine narrowly as direct patient care interaction and do not understand telementoring as a quality initiative
Medical-legal fears and unresolved licensing and credentialing issues prevent widespread telementoring adoption and limit case volumes needed for research
Telementoring symposium introduction: Comparative Technology in Telementoring...
Telementoring is defined as one expert surgeon beaming into another surgeon's room to help guide them through an operation.
There is debate about whether telementoring will be used in emergency situations or as part of education.
Karl Storz Endoscopy has been a leader in creating the technology used for telementoring.
49 countries are participating in this symposium.
Todd Ponsky2:00
Over 200 hospitals are watching the symposium.
Todd Ponsky2:00
Dr. Knut Augustad wrote one of the original papers on telementoring.
Host summaryTodd Ponsky summarizes what Dr. Knut Augustad said — not the host's own clinical position3:09
Dr. Brian Duncan, as past president of SAGES, made telementoring a top priority and catapulted it to the mainstream.
Host summaryTodd Ponsky summarizes what Dr. Brian Duncan said — not the host's own clinical position3:40
Mighty (Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation and Education) is probably the largest surgical training center in the world.
Dr. Steven Rothenberg has been doing telementoring for over 10 years using multiple different technologies.
Host summaryTodd Ponsky summarizes what Dr. Steven Rothenberg said — not the host's own clinical position4:25
Surgical telementoring-emerging technologies: Comparative Technology in...
Telestration reduces errors by more than 30% in surgical telementoring