OU Med Resident Becomes First To Be Certified In Robotic Surgery

A resident at OU Medical Center is the first in the hospital’s history to be certified in robotic surgery. Kayla Watkins received her “Robotic Equivalently Certificate” in March. It’s technology, she says, is changing the industry.

Monday, March 25th 2019, 9:08 pm



A resident at OU Medical Center is the first in the hospital’s history to be certified in robotic surgery. 

Kayla Watkins received her “Robotic Equivalently Certificate” in March. It’s technology, she says, is changing the industry. 

“The visualization on that opposed to laparoscopic surgeries is much improved,” said Watkins. “You can see 3D images in the console.”

In order to obtain the certification, residents first begin training online then start using the robotics for small tasks. Eventually, residents find themselves in the operating room with doctors.

“When you do these things with the robot and the newer theologies they are coming out with, patients are going home on post-operative day number one with minimal pain and no drains,” said Watkins. “It’s just better for them and I think that's the way surgery is going now.”

Dr. Alex Raines created the curriculum at OU Medical Center, one of only a handful in the country.  Proper training and safety, Raines says, is the number one goal.

“Doing it in a slow, methodical, and intentional fashion is okay here because they are going to get the surgical volume that they need to be safe,” said Raines.

With a passion of helping others, Watkins is ready for whatever may come her way.

“More people are going to see how great it is for patients and for the surgeons,” said Watkins. “I think they'll want to implement that more and do more surgeries with it.”

OU in Tulsa now offering the same certificate.

Watkins says she has interviews at some topnotch institutions, including Vanderbilt and Emory. She'll know in a couple months where she'll go.

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