Published online Apr 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i16.4675
Revised: January 28, 2014
Accepted: March 5, 2014
Published online: April 28, 2014
Processing time: 143 Days and 6.3 Hours
Core tip: Endoscopic submucosal dissection is complex procedure which and requires intense and lengthy training. There is a consensus that an essential component of the training is observation of experts performing endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). In this study, we prospectively evaluated the impact of observation of experts performing ESD on the acquisition of ESD skills. Our data show a decrease in time needed to remove the lesion and a decrease in complication rate after the period of observation, which confirm that observing experts while performing ESD has significant impact in acquiring ESD expertise. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in the time needed to remove lesions in different animal models, which has implications in designing training courses or programs due to the substantial difference in cost between live animals and explanted organs.