Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1207470
YOU MAY RECALL A RECENT NE WS STORY ABOUT AN ALL-WOMEN DELTA CRE W THAT FLE W 120 GiRLS iN STEM PROGR AMS TO NA SA HE ADQUARTERS TO iNSPiRE FEMALE AViATORS. A SiMiL AR T YPE OF MOVEMENT iS HAPPENiNG FOR WOMEN iNTERESTED iN HiGH- TECH MEDiCAL FiELDS, iNCLUDiNG ROBOTiC SURGERY. L ARGE CORPOR ATiONS, SUCH A S iNTUiTiVE SURGiCAL, ARE MAKiNG GRE AT STRiDES iN ENCOUR AGiNG THE ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN iN LE ADERSHiP ROLES iN ROBOTiC SURGERY. IN JUNE 2019, Intuitive Surgica l hosted its first-ever Women in da Vinci Surgery Symposium in Sa n Diego. One hundred expert women who specia lize in robotic surger y across a ll robotic surgica l spe- cia lties, including urolog y, g ynecolog y, g ynecologica l oncolog y, genera l surgery, colorecta l surger y, trauma surger y a nd thoracic surger y, were invited. Intuitive Surgica l, the compa ny that created t he da Vinci robot a nd leads innovation and education in robotic sur- ger y, has placed fema les in leadership positions throughout its orga nization, including in desig n a nd eng ineering, sa les a nd ma rket i n g , a nd execut ive leadership. This sy mposium brought Intuitive executive leadership together with fema le thought leaders in robotic surgery to develop strategies for advanc- i n g t he role of women lea dersh ip i n robotic surger y. Physicia ns ca me from a broad geographic a nd practice demo- g raphic, including academic, private practice a nd hospita l-based settings. Susa n Crockett, MD, loca l g yneco- log ic robotic surgeon a nd founder of Vir tuosa Gy n, is working a s a leader with Intuitive Surgica l a longside loca l hospita l systems and academic centers to create a unique tra ining center for advanced g ynecologic surgery, focusing on robotics. It will incorporate high-tech mentorship programs utilizing artificial intelligence and web-based technologies to connect young surgeons with basic robotic training to those surgeons with advanced skills. "The idea is to train more surgeons to be able to offer more women minimally inva- sive surgical options," Dr. Crockett says. T h e p r o g r a m w i l l u t i l i z e a n apprenticeship model for post-fellow- ship tra ining. Dr. Crocket t at tended the Intuitive Women in da Vinci Surger y Symposium and is excited about the future for young women coming into medicine. "My hope is that, over time, just like with the NASA aviation program, we who a re a lready women leaders in robotic surgery can reach younger students to show them an example of what is pos- sible, regardless of sex," she says. n WOMEN ON THE RISE IN ROBOTIC SURGERY 1 2❱❱❱❱❱ i N T H E N E W S