Learning Objectives:

The aim of this presentation is to describe the different steps of training in otologic surgery: first of all, the surgical simulators are used at the very beginning of the training to evaluate the anatomical knowledge of the resident. Therefore, simulators can provide comparison from different trainers and evaluation of the skill progress.

The next step is the drilling of an artificial temporal bone: this can improve the representation of the 3rd dimension when approaching the temporal bone anatomy: the artificial temporal bone has the advantages of being infectious disease free and low cost compared to cadaveric temporal bone, and the disadvantages are the poor haptic feedback and the lack of surgical scenarios.

After that, the training on cadaveric temporal bones allows the acquisition of a realistic haptic feedback and tool-organs interaction as well as the best anatomical representations of the temporal bone. Surgical procedures can also be simulated on cadaveric temporal bone.

Then the training in the OR is performed with two tools that help the resident in the localization of the facial nerve (the facial nerve stimulating burr) while drilling, and in the recognition of anatomical variations (the computer-assisted surgical navigation) in case of difficult surgeries, always under the supervision of the senior surgeon.