Dr. Olav Istre: the educational system for a gynecological surgeon in Denmark

Dr. Olav Istre: the educational system for a gynecological surgeon in Denmark Editor’s note The book Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgery, released in 2015 is about the latest advances in the field and the reasons why endoscopy is of importance in so many conditions. The only changes are devoted to the minimally invasive treatment of endometriosis, endometrial polyps, and adenomyosis. To know more about this book and the stories behind, we are pleased to invite Dr. Olav Istre to conduct an interview. Expert’s introduction Dr. Olav Istre (Figure 1) completed his residency at Frederiksberg and received his MSc from Aarhus University in 1977 and Dr. Med. from Oslo University in 1996. He has contributed to more than 170 medical publications, primarily in the form of scientific articles and teaching materials, in addition to many years of medical experience, also possesses extensive management and teaching experience from home and abroad. He worked from March 2009 to December 2010 as Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, Boston. Since December 2010, he has been the Chief Physician with exclusive responsibility for the gynecological field at the private hospital Aleris-Hamlet and Adjunct Professor of Gynecological Surgery at the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Southern Denmark. About the journey as a gynecological surgeon Then laparoscopy came up. At the beginning of the 1990s, I started doing a laparoscopic hysterectomy, which inspired me to continue performing minimally invasive surgery for the benefit for women’s health. The fact is that young residents have fewer volumes of cases in Denmark. Residents must be diligent in seeking further education, for instance, participating in congresses with live surgery education and international courses. To update the required volume in the specialists of gynecology and obstetrics, we should focus on the people who want to go into endoscopic surgery or operative gynecology. About the book of Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgery The gynecologists in Denmark should perform their ultrasound scan according to symptoms. This is not the case in many countries like the US or England, where the gynecologists refer the patients to ultrasound radiologists, which should be changed. I would feel very insufficient without performing ultrasound myself. Acknowledgments We want to express our sincerest gratitude to Dr. Olav Istre for sharing his stories, insights, and opinions with us. Funding: None. Footnote Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Gynecology and Pelvic Medicine. The article did not undergo external peer review. Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://gpm.amegroups.org/article/view/10.21037/gpm.2019.09.01/coif). SZ and JDC report that they are full-time employees of AME Publishing Company (publisher of the journal). The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare. Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. References - Istre O, Bjoennes J, Naess R, et al. Postoperative cerebral oedema after transcervical endometrial resection and uterine irrigation with 1.5% glycine. Lancet 1994;344:1187-9. [Crossref] [PubMed] - Istre O. Unexpected Uterine Leiomyosarcoma During Laparoscopic Hysterectomy Treated 6 Months With Ulipristal Acetate and Contained Power Morcellation. J Minim Invasive Gynecol 2017;24:198. [Crossref] [PubMed] (Science Editors: Silvia Zhou, Jeremy Dean Chapnick, GPM, [email protected]) Cite this article as: Zhou S, Chapnick JD. Dr. Olav Istre: the educational system for a gynecological surgeon in Denmark. Gynecol Pelvic Med 2019;2:17.