FLS Opens International Test Centers, Issues 10,000 Certification

The SAGES/ACS Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) Program is celebrating two major milestones in 2015 with the opening of International FLS Test Centers in France and Saudi Arabia and having issued a landmark 10,000 FLS certifications. These remarkable achievements follow on the heels of the FLS program’s 10-year anniversary last October.

• Expanding FLS training and certification beyond North America has been a main focus in recent years. The newly established test centers at  IHU Strasbourg-IRCAD in Strasbourg, France and King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will help address the growing international demand for a reliable and valid process for testing of competence in basic laparoscopy. View the full article here.
• According to Dr. Allan Okrainec, FLS Committee Co-chair, “these new Test Centers, along with our Test Centers already up and running in Singapore (Khoo Teck Puat Hospital) and Israel (Bnai-Zion Medical Center), will further elevate the standards of training for laparoscopic surgeons, enhancing operating performance worldwide.”
• SAGES congratulates Dr. Christopher Crawford on becoming the 10,000th surgeon to successfully complete the FLS Program! Dr. Crawford is a chief resident in general surgery at Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin and a SAGES Candidate Member. Upon completing his residency, he will continue his training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s MIS Fellowship Program.

For a complete list of individuals who have successfully completed the FLS program, please visit the FLS Registry. For more information about FLS, visit their website.