Objective: To review teaching and mentoring techniques of experienced skull base surgeons and educators STUDY DESIGN:: Expert commentary.
Setting: 8th Quadrennial International Conference on vestibular schwannoma and other CPA tumors, panel on teaching, and mentoring.
Main outcome measures: Experiences and opinions of experienced skull base surgeons, both neurosurgeons and neurotologists, presented and discussed at the conference.
Conclusions: Obtaining surgical mastery is essential for the teachers of skull base surgery. Hard work and practice with immediate and constant feedback on performance is an essential component to success. Creating a patient-centered culture that encourages academic achievement is an accelerator for success of a training program. Both the mentor and the mentee must play an intentional and active role to maximize learning.