Case Study: Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) achieves standardized, validated FES technical-skills assessment with 3D Systems' GI Mentor

GI Mentor Chosen as the Technical Skills Platform of the FES Exam

3D Systems’ Simbionix division was selected to address a national need to standardize endoscopic training and assessment. The American Board of Surgery and SAGES sought an educational and evaluation tool to reduce variability in residents’ endoscopic skills by adding a validated, VR‑based technical skills component to the new Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES) program.

Working with SAGES, 3D Systems provided the GI Mentor simulator and co‑developed a five‑task skills test (mucosal evaluation, navigation, loop reduction, retroflex, and targeting). The platform became the exclusive technical‑skills test for FES; the FES requirement is now part of the ABS Flexible Endoscopy Curriculum for surgeons graduating 2017–18 onward, supported by about 70 testing sites and adoption across 250+ accredited U.S. training programs.

Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES)

Jeffrey Marks

President