Carolyn Fan
Papers
2
Total Citations
23
H-Index
2
About
Carolyn Fan is a rising leader in surgical education and robotic surgery research, whose work is shaping how future surgeons are trained. Her primary research focuses on the transferability of technical skills between laparoscopic, open, and robot-assisted surgery—a critical question for credentialing and patient safety. In her landmark 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis (15 citations), Fan demonstrated that laparoscopic skills can transfer to robotic platforms, but open surgical skills do not, providing evidence-based guidance for training pathways. She followed this with a randomized controlled experimental study (8 citations) comparing robotic-assisted versus laparoscopic bowel anastomoses, offering rare in vivo evidence that robotic systems may shorten learning curves. These contributions are foundational for developing efficient, safe surgical curricula. By rigorously testing assumptions about skill transfer, Fan is helping to define how surgeons should transition to robotic platforms. Her work is already influencing how residency programs and hospitals structure their training, ensuring that as robotic surgery expands, patient safety remains paramount.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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