Surgical conferences in India seem to have an abundance of live surgery demos promoted as the highlight or lead event. Even as the recent death of a patient during a live surgery demo led organizers of a national surgical conference to cancel the scheduled live surgery, about 20 such demonstrations have been listed as the highlight of surgery conferences in India in the coming months. In contrast, a look at the schedules of about 40 international surgery conferences till the end of this year shows that only two have listed live surgery demonstrations.
Most international surgical conferences have only cadaveric workshops, deconstruction of videotaped surgeries by master surgeons, peer-reviewed video presentations showcasing surgical procedures, and current techniques and hands-on training in simulation skills laboratories. Internationally, several surgical associations have banned live…
