Dr. Zoltan Szabo began his career in 1972 as the Technical Director at the Microsurgical Laboratory at Franklin Hospital (now the California Pacific Medical Center, Davies Campus), where he was trained in microsurgery by Dr. Harry Buncke.
Dr. Buncke, widely renowned as the “Father of Microsurgery” in plastic and reconstructive surgery, headed this laboratory with Dr. Norman L. Chater, a prominent neurosurgeon, and it rapidly became recognized as one of the two leading microsurgical teaching and research facilities in the United States.
Dr. Szabo’s contributions, at what was eventually renamed the Harry J. Buncke Microsurgery Laboratory, included development of an educational curriculum for microneurovascular surgery. This curriculum became the internationally-recognized standard. He also directed the expansion of the microlab’s work to include development of microsurgical techniques for reproductive surgeries in urology and gynecology.
He worked closely with Ms. Wanda Toy, who was his co-instructor in microsurgery at the Buncke Microsurgery Laboratory.
In the late 1970’s, Dr. Szabo was invited by Dr. Jordan Phillips, founder of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL), to become a principal faculty member in the association’s gynecologic microsurgery workshops.
In 1980, Dr. Szabo and Ms. Toy opened an independent facility in San Francisco, where they continued to train surgeons of various subspecialties in microsurgery. Their laboratory, initially known as the Microsurgical Research Institute, was based in the China Basin area of San Francisco.
In the mid-1980’s, they relocated to the Upper Market area, where they are still teaching today.
Dr. Szabo taught and presented at numerous conferences and workshops in the United States and abroad. One of the first workshops he organized was a microsurgery course series from 1979 to 1991 in association with Universidad Central de Venezuela.
He visited his home country in 1983 to present a series of microsurgery workshops in Budapest, Debrecen, and Szeged, Hungary.
With Dr. Ludovico Stellini, a hand surgeon with the Ospedale Misericordia e Dolce, the Microsurgical Research Institute also organized and taught a series of four microsurgery workshops in Prato, Italy from 1987 to 1991.
Based on a suggestion from a gynecologist undergoing microsurgery training at the Institute, Dr. Szabo and Ms. Toy began researching the possibility of developing laparoscopic tubal reanastomotic techniques, which proved successful. In 1991, they began teaching operative endoscopy, and the Microsurgical Research Institute was renamed the MOET (Microsurgical and Operative Endoscopy Training) Institute the following year.
The early 1990’s was a time when general surgeons were looking to expand their application of laparoscopic techniques beyond laparoscopic cholecystectomies, but lacked a critical skill component: suturing and knotting techniques. Dr. Szabo and Ms. Toy worked on adapting their microsurgical techniques for laparoscopic application, an undertaking that included the development of instrumentation designs, training models, and curricula. They found that that these techniques could be adapted for and taught to gynecologists, urologists, pediatric surgeons, and cardiovascular surgeons in addition to general surgeons.
MOET’s courses in operative endoscopy proved popular, and the Institute’s research activities in laparoscopy led to its involvement in researching robotic surgical systems with firms on the west and east coasts, as well as invitations for Dr. Szabo to become a faculty member for numerous advanced laparoscopic surgical courses. Among these courses was the first advanced laparoscopic surgical skills course at the University of Utah, directed by Dr. John Hunter and Dr. George Berci. Soon afterward, he became the first Associate Director of the Advanced Videoscopic Surgery Training Courses at the University of California, San Francisco, directed by Dr. Lawrence Way and Dr. Carlos Pellegrini.
The Institute has also been involved with significant research activities including microvascular injury, regeneration, and repair (SEM study), microsurgical nerve repair, laparoscopic tubal anastomosis, vesiculourethral anastomosis following radical prostatectomy, CBD exploration, colon resection and repair, fetoscopic surgery, and fetoscopic cardiovascular intervention.
Resident and fellow training has long been a part of the MOET Institute’s educational activities. Within the past decade, MOET has taken on additional residency programs for training both in microsurgery and laparoscopic surgery.
The developments throughout the MOET Institute’s history could not have been realized without the tremendous support, contributions, and guidance from its mentors, collaborators, and students. It is upon this foundation that the Institute intends to continue its tradition of excellence in microsurgery and laparoscopic surgery training for surgeons and surgeons-in training. We look forward to working with our colleagues to further the Institute’s advancement and expansion of educational and research endeavors.
