UC San Diego’s Center for the Future of Surgery Completes $8 Million Upgrade
December 18, 2024 | By Samantha Phan
From left: Ryan Broderick, Bryan Clary and Santiago Horgan
UC San Diego’s Center for the Future of Surgery recently completed an $8 million facility upgrade, including over 240 pieces of new, state-of-the-art equipment, cementing the center as a national leader in research, training and education.
When it opened in 2012, the Center for the Future of Surgery had three goals: 1) develop new surgical techniques; 2) provide advanced surgical training; and 3) enhance patient safety. Since then, the center has found great success, testing and teaching surgical procedures that have transformed the surgery landscape. The center is currently focused on using technology to make surgery less invasive, allowing for quicker recovery and, ultimately, improving patient care.
“The Center for the Future of Surgery is the largest and most advanced training center in the world,” says Professor Santiago Horgan, M.D., former director of the center and chief of the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery in UC San Diego’s Department of Surgery. “Trainees come to us from all over and leave with a wide breadth of surgical knowledge. That knowledge is then used to improve patient experiences worldwide.”
The $8 million upgrade includes 40 state-of-the-art surgical displays, 38 cameras, 60 laparoscopes (a small instrument that is inserted through the abdominal wall to view the organs for small-scale surgeries) and more, courtesy of the Stryker Corporation. The imaging equipment offers higher-definition visuals, improved color detail and enhanced usability.
New equipment at the Center for the Future of Surgery
The facility upgrade is an investment in the center’s future, which is focused on innovation and education. Newer, more precise surgical equipment means more accurate simulations. UC San Diego residents, fellows and visiting trainees spend countless hours using the center’s equipment to learn advanced surgical techniques. This ensures they are practiced surgeons when they enter the operating room with the goal of improving patient outcomes.
“The equipment is paramount to what we do at the Center for the Future of Surgery,” says Associate Professor Ryan Broderick, M.D., the head of resident education in the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery. “These upgrades are essential to innovate, develop, test and train surgeons.”
On December 12, 2024, the Center for the Future of Surgery held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the upgraded facility. Professor Bryan Clary, M.D., M.B.A., chair of the Department of Surgery, spoke on what this upgrade means for the future of the center.
“One of the most remarkable and unique features of the Center for the Future of Surgery is its ability to partner with industry to refresh and maintain state-of-the art technology for the training of practicing and future surgeons,” says Clary. “Such an approach is critical for replicating the environments in which learners will care for patients and in serving as the platform for bringing in new technology to the Center for the Future of Surgery that has yet to be implemented in clinical practice.”