Students Name Inova Loudoun Hospital’s Newest Robot

Project involving da Vinci offers educational opportunity for EDGE Academy students

With help from Loudoun County Public School’s (LCPS) EDGE Academy students, Inova Loudoun Hospital (ILH) named its newest robot in the operating room: the da Vinci®  Xi Surgical System. Along the way, ILH may have inspired a future robotic surgeon or two.

EDGE Academy is a new after-school program for 4th and 5th graders attending Meadowland Elementary, Sugarland Elementary and Forest Grove Elementary schools. “An EDGE goal is to engage students in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” explains Stacey Metcalfe, Director of Government and Community Relations for the Western Region. “Everyone agreed that robotic surgery was a perfect fit.”

After meeting with ILH robotic surgeons Kate Khalifeh, MD, and Nathan Roberts, MD, and learning about the surgical technology, students created “birth announcements” and corresponding video blogs outlining their research and logic behind their proposed names. Patients, visitors and employees voted on the names, and the winner was … Dr. Surge Bot. More than 90 school officials, students, parents, teachers and hospital employees gathered to hear the selection. “After the announcement, students had a chance to manipulate the robot and see how it works inside a patient,” says Rebecca Valdesuso, RN, ILH Senior Director, Perioperative Services.

“It’s an experience these students will never forget,” notes Megan Jonkers, RN, ILH Robotic and Urology Surgical Service Line Coordinator. “This was a successful, powerful and meaningful project for everyone involved.”

Wonders in Robotic Surgery

Inova Loudoun Hospital offers the latest technology in minimally invasive surgery. Learn more about the da Vinci® Xi Surgical System. The da Vinci robot features superior capabilities for varying cardiac, colorectal, gynecologic, thoracic and urologic procedures.