A total of 76 surgeons and operating-room nurses have completed Morocco’s first university program dedicated to robotic surgery, with the Mohammed VI Interventional Simulation and Robotic Surgery School (M6-ISRSS) in Casablanca marking the end of its inaugural year at a ceremony held over the weekend. The program, launched in January at Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, combines classroom instruction with simulation and hands-on training to teach medical staff how to operate surgical robots, graduating more than 58 surgeons and 18 operating-room nurses specializing in general surgery and urology from across Morocco.
The program also drew doctors and medical staff from Tunisia, Djibouti and Cameroon, developed in partnership with the University of Lorraine’s School of Surgery in Nancy. Professor Jacques Hubert, a urologist and professor emeritus at the University of Lorraine who helped establish the training after working on robotic surgery programs in France, said the diploma’s international reach, drawing Tunisian and Cameroonian participants alongside Moroccans, exceeded initial expectations.
Robotic surgery requires dedicated training beyond simply gaining access to the technology, with the curriculum covering anatomy, robotic systems, safety and ethics before trainees practice on virtual simulators, synthetic models and human tissue and observe real procedures. The school operates two surgical robots reserved for training, alongside virtual and augmented reality equipment, and has incorporated training from Royal Moroccan Air Force fighter pilots to help participants strengthen communication, coordination, spatial awareness and emergency response.
Professor Mohammed Chahbouni, director of the Mohammed VI International Center for Simulation in Sciences and Health, described the initiative as the first academic project of its kind in Morocco and Africa, aimed at improving care for Moroccan citizens, and said the fighter-pilot input proved unexpectedly valuable. Professor Soufiane Essamoud, a paediatric surgery specialist and program graduate, said the technology extends surgical precision into areas previously difficult to reach.
The school plans to keep training Moroccan surgeons while gradually opening the program to more professionals from across Africa, with the aim of establishing Casablanca as a regional hub for robotic surgery training as more hospitals adopt robot-assisted procedures.
