New microscope a game-changer for training and surgery at HMR

18 October 2020

Two medical students practice on the new Leica miscroscope.

Thanks to a generous donation from Trudi and David Berger, the Plastic Surgery Division of Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont just acquired a state-of-the-art Leica microscope, providing new opportunities for training and surgery in many of the hospital’s departments.

An asset for surgery, training and teaching

Equipment to be replaced

The microscopes currently available at the Surgical Training Unit are obsolete and no longer meet today’s needs.

Evolving technology together with the development of competency-based learning focussed on know-how and experience, require future surgeons to train on equipment that allows for the simulation of surgical procedures.

The advantages of technology

The Leica microscope can be used by two students at the same time. Since it is possible to record the surgical procedure and then transfer it to a USB key, it is easy for users to review their work, comment on it and thus improve. In addition, teachers can simultaneously give feedback by seeing the learners’ surgical gestures on a screen connected to the microscope.

An essential tool for surgical training…

The Leica microscope will be used primarily by residents of the Université de Montréal’s plastic surgery program who do internships at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) and take part in microsurgery workshops twice a year as part of their training. It will greatly improve the quality of teaching for microsurgery residents.

With this latest-generation microscope, not only residents, but also accomplished surgeons, will benefit from an unparalleled tool for complex free flap reconstruction cases (when the limb is severed), as well as for complex cases involving trauma, devascularization or the amputation of fingers and limbs.

This microscope will be used to perform:

Reconstruction of a limb after resection, a surgical act which consists in removing an abnormality, a tumor, an organ or part of an organ;
Revascularization of a finger after a trauma;
Nerve re-innervation in a patient with spinal cord injury, i.e. damage to the spinal cord.

And for other departments

Thanks to the Leica microscope, patients are treated by surgeons who benefit from exceptional training with state-of-the-art equipment. With this level of training, the teams at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont are perfectly prepared to operate on complex cases with confidence.

The private hospital I first went to considered the surgery I needed as being too complex. So, I turned to Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont. I was so well received and cared for that my husband and I absolutely wanted to show our appreciation in a special way.Trudi Berger, HMR patient

This microscope will also be used in other departments such as Otorhinolaryngology and Cardiac Surgery.

My colleagues, Dr. Marc Isler, Chief of Surgery at CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Ile-de-Montréal, and Dr. Pierre Dubé, Chief of the Surgical Training Unit, and I can only be delighted that all students, residents and surgeons can now count upon such a high-quality, state-of-the-art microscope. It will make a difference for them, but also for patients.Dominique Tremblay, Plastic Surgeon, Director of the Plastic Surgery Program, Université de Montréal

Benefits for Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont and its patients

Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont is considered a center of excellence in teaching, and that includes the training of surgical residents from University of Montreal.

The new microscope reinforces this expertise by providing state-of-the-art equipment essential for competency-based learning and simulation. It also allows the HMR to fulfill its mission as a university hospital.

It will enable the Hospital to launch research projects in continuing medical education related to microsurgery teaching.

Your donations, regardless of the amount, make a difference. Thank you for being there for Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont’s medical teams and patients. Thank you for being a source of healing.