HJLR May/Jun 2019

56 MAY / JUN 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of LITTLE ROCK “I knewthere hadto beabetterway to provide surgeons the advanced training they needed, without the enhanced pres- sure of operating on a live patient,” says Dr. Aboud. “TheAboud Model simulates the hu- man body in terms of anatomy and function: bleeding pulsation and softness of tissue. Using this method, surgery residents and young surgeons get to practice and master surgical methods and techniques without putting patients in any danger.” Since his initial training in neurosurgery column neurology Advancing Surgical Training: Changing the Way Doctors Respond in Surgery in his home country of Syria, Dr. Aboud has always been interested in improving tech- niques and the way surgeons train. When he came to the University of Arkansas in 2001, he worked diligently to increase his expo- sure and surgical experience so he could take the information back home and serve the people of his country, who desperately needed a higher level of care than was read- ily available. Dr. Aboud’s idea of a living cadaver model came after he realized the number of complications and deaths that could be prevented with better surgical education. Human cadavers have been used in surgi- cal training for many years, but The Aboud Model is distinctive, and provides great practical value for training in a wide range of surgical procedures. “The technology itself connects human cadavers with artificial blood reservoirs, where arterial side is connected to a pump that provides pulsating pressure inside the arteries,” explains Dr. Aboud. “Because it Dr. Emad Aboud, director of the O. Al-Mefty Microneurosur- gery Laboratory at Arkansas Neuroscience Institute at CHI St. Vincent, is changing the way surgeons from around the globe train for surgery. A brilliant neurosurgeon, Dr. Aboud developed The Aboud Model: The Live Cadaver, a surgical training method that allows doctors to practice surgical procedures on cadavers and simulate life-like conditions.