An international group of civilian and military physicians and surgical assistants participated in the “Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma” (ASSET) surgical training course, based on American traumatology and combat experience, which was held in Budapest at Semmelweis University’s Department of Pathology, Forensic and Insurance Medicine on April 16 and 17.
The aim of the program is to teach participants techniques for exposing and treating serious, life-threatening injuries in a professional way, with a special focus on trauma in war or disaster situations.
The ASSET training, held in 2010 for the first time, was developed by the Chicago-based American College of Surgeons (ACS), which was founded in 1913. The first edition of the course in Budapest took place three years ago in cooperation between the Hungarian Defence Forces Medical Centre (MH EK) and Semmelweis University’s Department of Pathology, Forensic and Insurance Medicine.
As Colonel Dr. Péter Vekszler, Deputy Commander for International Affairs at the Hungarian Defence Forces Medical Centre, said: The training is attended by civilian doctors and surgical assistants in addition to military specialists because the knowledge gained here can be used not only in the field of military operations, but also in civilian healthcare.
MH EK has started the application process for NATO certification of the training in accordance with the relevant protocol. In the process, the professional support of the NATO Centre of Excellence for Military Medicine (NATO KEKK), based in Budapest, is also being used. The training is available worldwide, but in the Central European region only Semmelweis University and MH EK offer it at present. The ASSET course is expected to gain similar international recognition as the postgraduate course in trauma care, “Advanced Trauma Life Support” (ATLS).
“The headline target of Semmelweis University’s Department of Pathology, Forensic and Insurance Medicine is to provide an educational background for the training of doctors and for continuing medical education that will facilitate the development of clinical practice,” said pathologist Dr. András Kiss, Head of the department. He added that surgical practices directly contribute to more professional care of living patients, which is why they considered it important to join the course delegated to Hungary by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), a US federal health professions university. He stressed that the instructors leading the ASSET course are renowned international trauma surgeons with extensive experience in military and NATO medical interventions.
“Semmelweis University’s National Training Center for Medical Innovation (NOIKK), scheduled to open in 2026, and the Department of Pathology, Forensic and Insurance Medicine will promote Hungarian and international medical education with opportunities similar to the ASSET and ASSET Plus courses, in the most efficient and state-of-the-art form possible. In some cases, courses envisaged with the planned involvement of civilian and military specialist staff will also provide the opportunity to learn robotic surgery in a professional manner,” said Dr. András Kiss, who added that he considers civilian and military medical cooperation to be complex and prosperous.
Source: https://defence.hu/
Translation: Dr. Balázs Csizmadia
