-
Dr. Kant Shah
- Jan. 26, 2025
Paediatric Advanced Laparoscopy Course
July 2025 to July 2026
Download
Course Brochure
DownloadHello!
Welcome to the third edition of the Squirrels Advanced Paediatric Laparoscopy Training Programme, to be held from Jul 2025 to July 2026.
If you are an early or mid-career paediatric surgeon then you appreciate the growing demand for paediatric surgeons to learn advanced laparoscopic surgery. The improvements in technology have enabled us to do more complex surgeries by minimally invasive methods providing never before seen results for our patients.
However, there is a steep learning curve to advanced paediatric laparoscopic surgery. Personally, I (Dr. Kant Shah) spent many years working with expert surgeons and undertook many courses to be able to deliver advanced laparoscopy and robotic surgery to my patients.
This course is designed to fast-track your learning in advanced paediatric laparoscopic surgery. It is designed in a modular fashion using a heady mix of online and offline coaching. The basics are covered in one online session and also there is an extensive video library on our website. You would then come to Mumbai for a two days Hands-On practice on dry and wet models (11-12 July, 2025) where over two days and more than 20 hours, you will learn simple manouvres which become a part of a larger surgery. The models are designed by our faculty after breaking down simple and complex surgeries into small steps and building models to mimic them. This grueling workshop is a faculty favourite and what sets us apart from most other courses.
On your third day in Mumbai (13 July, 2025), you will observe about 6 to 8 simple and complex procedures performed in two operating rooms by our faculty. This will provide you an opportunity to put things in perspective, speak with the paediatric anaesthesia team, see how the OT is arranged, how ports are inserted and other small things which only a real life experience can teach us.
We continue our coaching over a monthly online (zoom) meeting where we will go through 15-20 surgeries in great details by video lectures. An important part of this exercise is to learn from you, the difficulties you face, as you implement your learnings from the workshop into real life and help you with problem solving for the same. Our mentorship and hand holding continues beyond the course and many delegates stay in touch while they push new frontiers in advanced laparoscopy and robotics.
For those who are unable to attend the in-person training modules, there is an option of online coaching with access to the same video library and monthly meetings.
In addition, for those who have already done our course or an equivalent course, we have introduced a year long-mentorship programme for 2025-2026.
We invite paediatric surgeons from around the world to come and learn with us picking a model that best fits their training requirements.
The salient features of this course are -
- All theory is covered as videos in the pre-course material. These videos are crafted in detail to cover OT position, Port Position, Port placement, critical steps of common surgeries and common fallacies.
- Two days hands-on training module with dry and wet lab.
- Post course contact programme. This exhaustive activity is a monthly online meeting where one or two procedures are discussed each month covering simple to complex surgeries.
- Option to observe live in-OT with our faculty for one day.
- Highly successful online-only module for those who cannot travel to Mumbai for the full course.
- Mentorship option for those who wish to learn first hand advanced laparoscopic surgery.
What to expect from the course
This programme is designed to provide you a good starter to your paediatric laparoscopy career. You are encouraged to participate with your real life experiences. As faculty, we have all been through the stages of learning laparoscopic surgery in the past two decades and have attended many courses. The old adage of 'see one, assist one and do one' rarely is relevant today and it is better to be prepared by thorough learning and practice. This course is a culmination of several brain storming hours to give you what we feel is a comprehensive, continuous and well curated course.
What not to expect from the course
This course is designed for paediatric surgeons who have some basic understanding of laparoscopy and is not designed for absolute beginners in laparoscopy.
Rating by previous course delegates (2023)
OVERALL RATING = 4.833 / 5
Course FORMAT = 4.917 / 5
Contact us
You may call or send a WhatsApp message to Dr. Pradeep Shenoy (+91 9920036404) to enquire about this course or Dr. Vrushali Prajapat (+91 8425843217) for general enquiries and enquires about venue, accommodation etc.
Best wishes and happy learning
Dr. Kant Shah
Course Director
Our team
Course Convenor
Dr. Pradeep Shenoy
Patron
Dr. Ketan Parikh
Course Director
Dr. Kant Shah
Course Faculty
Dr. Jui Mandke
Dr. Devendra Taide
Dr. Hussain Kotawala
Course co-ordinator
Dr. Vrushali Prajapat
Nursing and OT team
Nandini Jadhav
Shubham Ligam
Sonali Bhekare
Vaibhav Gaikwad
Azhar Attar
Anant Shinde
Modules
The Squirrels Advanced Paediatric Laparoscopy Training programme is modular by design. There are options to attend in-person and online.
Our comprehensive course is the most popular and gets filled up early. This module provides you a complete solution for your laparoscopy journey.
Once you have decided which module to opt for, it may not be possible to switch modules later on.
Once the seats are full, we put you on a wait list.
The following are the modules of the course. Please read through inclusions carefully before you choose. You can also discuss your needs with Dr. Pradeep Shenoy.
- Online only
Pre-Course Material (Online Video Library)
+ Post-course Contact Programmes for one year (Online) (August 2025 - July 2026)
+ Recordings of monthly contact programme meetings
- Live in-OT observation
Pre-Course Material (Online Video Library)
+ Live in-OT observation of surgery for one day (13 July, 2025)
+ Post-course Contact Programmes for one year (Online) (August 2025 - July 2026)
+ Recordings of monthly contact programme meetings
- Hands-on lab course
Pre-Course Material (Online Video Library)
+ Two Days Hands-On dry and wet lab training in Mumbai (11/12 July, 2025)
+ Accommodation 10/11 July, 2025 - two nights, twin sharing at venue (MCA club)
+ Post-course Contact Programmes for one year (Online) (August 2025 - July 2026)
+ Recordings of monthly contact programme meetings
- Comprehensive course
Pre-Course Material (Online Video Library)
+ Two Days Hands-On dry and wet lab training in Mumbai (11/12 July, 2025)
+ Live in-OT observation of surgery for one day (13 July, 2025)
+ Accommodation 10/11/12 July, 2025 - three nights, twin sharing at venue (MCA club)
+ Post-course Contact Programmes for one year (Online) (August 2025 - July 2026)
+ Recordings of monthly contact programme meetings
- Mentorship Module - more details will be available shortly
One year of in-person training in Mumbai with five faculty
Structured training programme catered to the individual delegate
Exit exam
Accommodation
Accommodation is available at the fabulous MCA club in Kandivali, Mumbai which is also the venue for he Hands-on course. https://goo.gl/maps/aitfipWPmWQTRAkHA
- Accommodation is on twin sharing basis.
- Single room may be available at an additional cost if booked early. The rooms do get booked out early so please coordinate with Dr. Vrushali about your accommodation as soon as possible.
- We prefer that you arrive one night prior as the course starts sharply at 8 am each day.
- Check-in time is 2 pm. Check-out time is 10 am.
- Additional nights before or after the course can be availed if booked early and usually will be available on single room basis only.
Dates:
Hands-on course: Course dates: 11/12 July. Accommodation is booked for 10/11 July. Check out on 11 July 10 am.
Comprehensive course: Course dates: 11/12/13 July. Accommodation is booked for 10/11/12 July. Check out on 12 July 10 am.
Course without accommodation:
Although we do not recommend that you book the Hands-on course or the Comprehensive course without the provided accommodation, in case this is not feasible for you then please discuss this with Dr. Vrushali our coordinator.
Refunds
No refunds will be provided separately for accommodation which is cancelled if you are still attending the course.
Course fees and availability
The following are the fees for individual modules and the availability for the year 2025-2026
- Online only - Rs. 12,000 - 12 seats
- Live in-OT observation - Rs. 30,500 - 6 seats
- Hands-on lab course- Rs. 32,250 - 6 seats
- Comprehensive course - Rs. 52,250 - 6 seats
- Mentorship Module - (fee details will be announced shortly) - 2 seats
Registration
The registration process is as follows -
- Go through the modules carefully and if needed, discuss with Dr. Pradeep Shenoy about your needs and what each module can provide for you.
- Once you have decided your module/s of interest, please fill this form https://forms.gle/3fcq1pejMnUmn4Tt9 (you can choose more than one module at this stage)
- Our team will get back to you to finalise with you the module that would most suit you.
- Make a payment as per the fee structure above for the module selected.
- Send us the payment details by WhatsApp to Dr. Vrushali at +91 8425843217 and/or by email to squirrelstraininginstitute@gmail.com
- We will send you a confirmation email and your login access to our Video library
Payment details
Once your participation is confirmed, you will have a 48 hours window where we can hold your reservation for the module that you are interested in. If not sure then please check with us again before making a payment.
The payment can be done by bank transfer only to the following account -
NEFT only
Account name: SQUIRRELS TRAINING INSTITUTE
Bank name: Bank of India
Account number: 006220110001275
IFSC code: BKID0000062
Inclusions
Online course fees include attendance of online session and access to the video library for one year.
Hands-On course fees include All materials, Dry and Wet Models, Accommodation on 10th & 11th July, 2025 nights at the venue, Food including Breakfast and Lunch for both course days.
Live in-OT day includes packed breakfast and lunch at the hospital venue. It does not include accommodation, however that can be requested separately.
Comprehensive course fees include all of the above along with one additional night accommodation on 12th July, 2025.
Exclusions
Travel - if you stay away from the venue then please consider travel in your plans.
Accommodation when not mentioned.
Any other costs not mentioned.
Refunds
A Rs. 1000 processing fee will de deducted and a full refund processed on or before 31st May 2025. Beyond this date, the refund can only be done if there is an alternative person who is willing to take the exact module that you will be vacating.
Course venue, timings & travel to the venue
The following two are the venue for the courses
Hands-on lab course 11 & 12 July, 2025 (Friday and Saturday)
The two day hands-on course is held at the MCA Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana, Kandivali west, Mumbai
Website - https://mcasak.com/
Maps - https://goo.gl/maps/aitfipWPmWQTRAkHA
The hands-on course starts sharply at 8 am on Friday and Saturday 11 and 12 July, 2025. Each day will end approximately at 6 pm. Please plan travel accordingly. The course includes stay on the nights of 10 and 11 July, at the venue. You will need to check-out on the last day of the course in the morning itself.
Live in-OT observation - 13 July, 2025 (Sunday)
The Live in-OT observations will be held at Surya hospital, Santacruz, Mumbai. We plan to have two OTs running simultaneously and demonstrate 6-8 simple to complex cases during this. The OTs will start sharp at 8 am on 13th July and it is recommended to be present at 7.30 am for pre-surgery discussions. You will also get a chance to interact with paediatric anesthesia colleagues and our Patron Dr. Ketan Parikh. The OTs finish by 6 pm approximately.
Surya Hospital - maps - https://goo.gl/maps/2495wYaD5CJ6uHap6
Travel to the venue
From MCA club to Surya hospital it takes roughly 40-50 minutes before the early morning traffic. You may be able to join our faculty in their car if you can start early.
What to bring to the course
Light casual wear.
It will be beneficial to have a good night's rest ahead of the hands-on workshop.
Course Schedule
June 2025
Online video library – 10 hours
You get access to the online video library as soon as you register for the course. There are two types of videos, one, teaching videos made by our faculty specifically for this course, keeping you in mind. They cover everything from OT setup to patient position to port insertion. Two, there are recordings of our previous years online monthly contact programmes, which some may find useful and some may feel they are out of context. You may skip these in the beginning.
July 2025
Online course introduction – 2 hours, live interactive
On a pre-notified day, we will conduct an online meeting where our faculty will take you through the course and highlight important things for you to learn during the course.
We will also take questions from you about the videos and resolve queries about basics of laparoscopy in detail.
Hands-on lab course 11 & 12 July, 2025
The hands-on course is a two day grueling affair where you will practice on dry and wet tissue models which are specific to paediatric surgery. You will start with basic hand manouvres, dissecting techniques by hook & scissors and then end up learning suturing. We then have models where simples steps of common paediatric surgeries are mimicked and practiced both on dry and wet models. The endotrainers are accompanied with laparoscopy equipment including HD camera by our educational sponsor Olympus. This will give you a real life feel to operating and assisting, and coordinating with your partner. As the course progresses, you will switch to 3mm instruments and finer suture materials as per your skill level. Finally you will do a complete pyeloplasty repair on a wet tissue model. There will be a short competition to test your learnt skills too!
Throughout the two days, emphasis will be on doing things correctly rather than completing the tasks.
Friday, 11 July, 2025
Day one of the hands-on course focusses on getting the basics right. Simple hand movements, efficiency, ergonomics, basic skills such as dissection, suturing etc.
8 am – Breakfast
8.30 am – Session 1: Meet the professor – Dr. Ketan Parikh
Dr. Ketan Parikh is a pioneer in paediatric laparoscopic surgery and a founding member of the PESI-IAPS society. An hour-long interaction with the master will motivate you to learn with rigour.
9.30 am – Session 2: Handling and Dissection skills
12 pm – Session 3: Physiotherapy for Laparoscopic Surgeons
This popular session focusses on things you can do to prevent injuries to yourself while learning and adapting to laparoscopy. Most of us got injured and we don't want you to go through the same! In our zeal to learn, the first sacrifice is often made of ergonomics. Some surgeries are inherently difficult or longer. A good plan of how to prevent injuries will put you in good stead for decades to come.
1 pm – Lunch
2 pm – Session 4: Dissection Skills
4 pm – Session 5: Suturing skills
4.30 pm – High tea
5 pm – Session 6: Suturing skills
Saturday 12th July, 2025
8 am – Breakfast
8.30 am – Test
9.30 am – Session 7: Suturing skills
11.30 pm – Session 8: Pyeloplasty
1 pm – Lunch
2 pm – Session 9: Fine Suturing Skills
In this session we focus on using finer sutures, finer tissues with less error rates.
4 pm – Session 10: Suturing skills
4.30 pm – High tea
5 pm – Closing comments from Faculty
Live in-OT observation
After the first course, we received feedback from many delegates that they would like to attend some surgeries in the OT as well and this was incorporated in the second programme where our faculty demonstrated Hernia, Undescended testis, Pyeloplasty, Intravesical Ureteric Reimplantation and similar surgeries in two OTs over one entire day. The delegates also got to meet the patron Dr. Ketan Parikh and get his inputs. Most delegates had abundant questions for our Paediatric Anaesthesia team led by Dr. Dilip Chavan and they were amazed at the simplicity of the answers and the smoothness of operations. This year also we will have 6-8 surgeries performed by our faculty in two operating rooms providing a valuable real life experience to our delegates. This module is bundled in the comprehensive course along with one night additional accommodation at the MCA club and also can be book separately without the Hands-on course and accommodation.
Sunday, 13th July, Surya Hospital
We will start the OTs at 8 am and hence the delegates are advised to reach the venue in time.
If you are staying at the MCA club and can start early, one of the faculty members would be able to take you in their car.
Please respect patient privacy during the operative sessions.
Sponsors
Our educational sponsors for this course are -
Borivali Healthcare
All the back office work is done at Borivali Healthcare including making of models and arranging tissues etc. Our staff takes a lot of pride in doing this and you can freely interact with them to know how you can replicate some of this in your own setup.
Olympus Medical Imaging systems
Olympus Medical Imaging systems provides a financial grant and also provides all the imaging equipment which is HD and above quality. The equipment is highly valuable and delegates are requested to protect and use with caution.
Testimonials from previous course
Our first course in January 2023
Our ratings
Overall
Detailed
Comfort of suturing at the end of the course
Our delegates came from far and wide
The setting - hall
MCA club, Kandivali, Mumbai
We had one of the best ever setups at this fantastic venue. The ambience was perfect for learning and the food and service was well organised by the local team.
The equipment
All imaging systems were HD or 4K, also there was one 3D system for people to try out.
These were provided by Olympus Imaging, our Educational Partner
Interactive sessions
We had two mentors Dr. Ketan Parikh and Dr. Uddhavraj Dudhedia who both gave tips and tricks of starting out the laparoscopic journey. They focussed on starting problems and how to over come them. We also had a fantastic session with a physiotherapist Shiney Shanbhag who discussed different techniques to avoid injuries. There was also a session with Dr. Ankit Desai to highlight challenges for anaesthetists with laparoscopic surgery especially in Infants.
The faculty
Our faculty have spent most of the past two decades learning laparoscopic surgery and modifying its usage to suit our tiny patients and every increasing repertoire of surgeries.
They spent hours discussing models which would mimic real life scenarios. Also wet tissues were used to give a 'feel' of real life surgery.
The faulty were well supported by a fully engrossed staff who also tried their hands in their spare time!
True Hands-on
A great emphasis was given on hands-on training throughout the two days of training. our faculty used their expertise to fine tune the hand movements, shoulder placements and internal instrument movements to enhance efficacy and accuracy.
The delegates
We had some of the most enthusiastic delegates who participated with vigour. This motivated the faculty to go all out to help them in their journey of laparoscopy. This camaraderie was well evident in the post-course monthly contact programmes and continues to this day.
We are thankful to our sponsors for supporting us in this endeavour financially and by providing materials.
Borivali Healthcare
Olympus Medical Imaging
Yantrika Laparoscopy Instruments
Dolphin Sutures
Blueneem Urology products
We are eternally grateful to our teachers who taught us to learn, practice and innovate.
We are featured in Express Healthcare!
Express Healthcare and about 40 other health related online media websites covered our course and mentioned our vision statement in their published articles
Few examples -
