WELCOME

Dear colleagues
and friends,

Welcome to the website of the Advanced Oldenburg-Groningen Training Program in Reconstructive Microsurgery.

Fostered through the scientific exchange between the Section Anatomy of the University Medical Center Groningen (The Netherlands) and the Department for Plastic, Aesthetic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery at the Evangelisches Krankenhaus Oldenburg (Germany), this program, embodies the initiation of a new excellence teaching cluster in reconstructive microsurgery.

Microsurgery has become an established discipline in plastic and reconstructive surgery nowadays, requiring outstanding technical skills and extensive anatomical knowledge to achieve successful results. Attaining these skills requires intense structured training before entering the operating room. In an effort to provide suitable learning platforms, several training concepts ranging from specialized courses to complete master programs have emerged. Nevertheless, under an ever-increasing demand for training, courses aimed at advanced training such as for perforator flap harvesting or lymphatic microsurgery too often suffer from limited availability, expensive fees or low trainer-trainee ratios, all of which result in suboptimal knowledge acquirement.

This program was designed to actively address these issues, offering skills training the right way. Provided with state–of–the–art facilities and instrumentation, while exercising on outstandingly preserved fresh human tissue, you will have the opportunity to harvest a large array of flaps after the “see one-do one” principle, under the close guidance of expert faculty.

Through the ongoing support of our friends, world-renowned experts, each practical module will gather cutting-edge faculty lineup, which will share with you in a 1:1 teaching model, their unique expertise.

The program venue, Groningen, is the capital city (200,000 inhabitants) of the most northern province of the Netherlands. Thanks to its large student population (around 55,000) it is the youngest city of the Netherlands. As a former semi-independent state and member of the German Hanseatic League Groningen has rich history, making it an attractive city for both young and old.

The University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) is one of the largest hospitals in the world (almost 13,000 employees), offering superregional tertiary care to the entire northern part of the Netherlands. It provides specialty training at its state-of-the-art facilities for over 750 physicians and through its affiliation with the University of Groningen, educates almost 1,000 PhD students per year.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to our host, the UMCG, for hosting this program into its modern facilities and allowing it to benefit from the body donation program. All these play a pivotal role into making microsurgical teaching at such high level possible.

Our thanks head also towards our good friend and official partner of this course, Mr. Markus Spingler, director at the S&T AG (Schaffhausen, Switzerland). His efforts and continuous support have decisively catalyzed the transformation of this program into reality. Last but not least, we would like to acknowledge the ongoing support and invaluable suggestions of the Directory Board of the Evangelisches Krankenhaus in Oldenburg, whom alongside with the organizing committee stand at the foundation of this program.

We are looking forward to welcome you in Groningen for an unforgettable journey in the realm of advanced reconstructive microsurgery.