The beginning of a new challenge

The first month as ESDE Fellow with Professor Peter Grimminger at the University Medical Centre Mainz is already history — time for a first reflection.

After completing my training in visceral surgery and starting subspecialty training in oesophageal surgery under Prof. Paul Magnus Schneider (Klinik im Park, Hirslanden Zurich), it was not easy for me to begin a fellowship programme at this stage of my professional career.

After my first observership with Prof. Grimminger, which became possible after my training and first robot-assisted procedures with the Xi system through the manufacturer, all doubts were dispelled. The chance to be part of such a visionary team is a unique opportunity to develop efficiently.

In Mainz, five to seven complex procedures of the upper gastrointestinal tract are performed every week, mostly robot-assisted.

What impressed me most was the variety of these interventions — from double-tract reconstruction with the Da Vinci Xi system to transcervical robot-assisted oesophagectomy with the single-port system (Da Vinci SP), which in selected cases is performed by two teams simultaneously, transcervically and transabdominally.

Equally fascinating were the many technical refinements that Prof. Grimminger and his team apply to make these demanding procedures safer and more efficient.

In these first four weeks in Mainz I have already seen and learned a great deal. Particularly valuable was identifying the technical skills I want to master with priority, in order to integrate them into my daily work in Zurich as soon as possible.

In addition to my surgical activities I am already involved in several research projects, which allows me to pursue and deepen my scientific goals.

This fellowship year promises to be very exciting, and I am looking forward to it.