I attended a 5-day rodent surgery training session with RRSSC in October 2020. This training occurred at the start of my PhD and I am very glad that I had this training so early on in my career. René’s knowledge and experience are phenomenal and I believe that having this training has provided me with a brilliant base set of skills to carry forwards in my research. René explained the key parts of rodent based research – including suturing, anaesthesia, instruments, asepsis, surgical techniques, and using a microscope. The way in which he explains their importance in research means that you understand why you are doing different processes, not just that you have to do them – I found this very beneficial and it has given me more understanding as to why certain things are done the way they are. René’s knowledge of the history behind rodent surgery and research is also outstanding, which brings even more of a relevance to the work that you are doing. The second part of the course was tailored to the different techniques that we needed to learn for our own research. For me, this included injections into the hepatic portal vein (HPV), injections under the kidney capsule, and an attempt at catheterising the HPV in mice. René explained to us how to do the specific techniques, watched us perform them, and gave us tips on how to refine our technique to ensure more success and in ways which are more beneficial to the recovery of the animal, which was especially helpful as I had no previous microsurgery experience. René’s ‘goal-orientated’ methodology and constant reminding of basic skills ensured that we were performing complex procedures in ways that were sustainable for when this is applied to actual experiments, and in the best interests of …

I have never attended a training course where I felt more welcome, nor had my needs catered for so perfectly. The course truly was tailor-made to the specific procedures I needed to learn whilst providing a solid grounding in the basics so that I can advance and refine my own work in the future. The training team was most generous with their time and expertise. Rene’s experience is invaluable; I left with far more knowledge, understanding, and skill than I ever expected to obtain in 5 days – there are elements to his teaching that you simply won’t find anywhere else, and his passion for animal welfare is clear. Those who have benefited from this training will be practicing the highest standards from both ethical and technical aspects – I would consider this training compulsory for any researcher planning to incorporate microsurgery into their work.

“The course in experimental research techniques will get you up to speed with all the microsurgical procedures required for your project in no time. I participated in the course as a total beginner in microsurgery and 5 days later I was able to perform successfully the microsurgical procedure I needed for my research. The course gave me both a theoretical and practical background and it was tailored to my needs. The instructors, René and Irene, were wonderful! They guided me throughout the hands-on training and shared with me tips on how I will improve my technique and experimental protocol. Overall, I strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in establishing a new in vivo model that requires microsurgical skills.”

Attending the 5 day microsurgery course at René Remie’s Surgical Skills Centre has been the single best investment for my research career to date. This is a highly informative, superbly organised course which delivers vast amounts of knowledge and advice. The theoretical lectures are delivered in an interesting and casual manner. Plenty of time remains for the practical learning, using fantastic equipment and ideal surgical stations. Experiencing this ideal set up has helped me at home to set up a surgical suite that is fit for my purpose. There was no limit to the support and advice I received whilst navigating practical microsurgery techniques. No question remained unanswered, and no demonstration was too much to ask. I cannot recommend this course enough. The only regret I have about this course at the RRSSC is that I didn’t attend earlier.

In June 2018, I attended the 5-day iPRECIO pump implantation course, by far the best course I ever experienced. The balance between theory and practice was perfect and the close guidance during surgical skills training was very helpful. Definitely a recommendation for everyone performing surgeries on mice!

In June 2018, I had the great pleasure to take part in a course organized by RRSSC and Primetech on the implantation of iPrecio mini pumps into the blood vessels of mice and rats. Thanks to Rene’s valuable tips and perfectly organized training, I have almost immediately performed the procedure of the jugular and femoral vein catheterization in mice and rats. Something that previously seemed to be impossible for me. With the help of René, it took around 20 minutes to get the catheter into the vessel of choice. René is a very hospitable man with a passion for science and I admire and appreciate his great knowledge. He can talk about animals, their anatomy, and pharmacology so that the listener can not get away from the lecture. I definitely recommend everyone to come to Almere and take part in one of these rodent training courses.

I recently attended the Module C 5-day microsurgical course specialising in radiotelemetry implantation at René Remie Surgical Skills Centre.  I would highly recommend any of the courses available to anyone who is looking to begin or improve upon microsurgical techniques in vivo.  The facilities at the RRSSC were fantastic; I was genuinely surprised at how much I gained from the course.  Prof. Remie has extensive knowledge of not only surgical techniques, but also anaesthesia, asepsis and anatomy, not to mention his historical knowledge on the subject!  Having come from a background of some limited surgical experience I found this course extremely helpful. I came away not only feeling competent in the cannulation skills I had learnt throughout the week, but I was also given a lot of useful information to take back to my lab.  The course is incredibly well organised, with each programme being tailored to your individual needs.  Prof. Remie is very approachable should you have any questions (there were many), and really goes out of his way to inform his students of as much as possible, without the feeling of being overwhelmed at all.

The course (November 2013) run by René and Delphine was really excellent. I would highly recommend it particularly for someone like me with no previous surgical experience. The course content was pitched at the right level and communicated extremely well. The balance between theory and practice was excellent and I really felt that I learned so much within such a short time. My goal was to learn the skin transplant model but I exceed my expectations and the additional skills learned, for example, the catheterization of a number of vessels will open possibilities in our research that were not previously considered. René was a wonderful host and an excellent teacher. The course was extremely relaxed and enjoyable.

I attended an adapted 3-day course from 25th to 27th April 2012. It will help me a lot in my future research work. I am a general surgeon and worked in clinics for about 8 years. I also performed animal experiments before, such as partial hepatectomy, intra portal vein transplantation, hepatocytes isolation. I could do these animal experiments, but I still had some questions. I needed to improve my skills in animal surgery to do them perfectly. I took my questions (and also my colleague’s questions) to René’s course. René taught me by himself. He has more than 30 years of experience in animal experiments and microsurgery. I realized that we could improve our animal experiments with the teacher’s instructions and make them more perfect. In a short period of time, we learned all kinds of tricks from him. I also learned some microsurgical techniques. I would like to suggest, that the M.D./ Ph.D. students or postdocs who want to learn and improve the animal experimentation skills should come to René. You will get an excellent course from him.

In April 2012 I had the pleasure of attending a course in microsurgical techniques at René Remie Surgical Skills Centre in Almere, The Netherlands. This was an experience that by far exceeded all my expectations. René is a wonderful person with a passion to teach others the amazing microsurgical techniques he is mastering to perfection. René has a way of making everyone around him in a good mood and at the same time push you forward as hard as possible to make you learn far more than you thought possible in a 5-day course. The program for the course will be modified specially to your needs in a way to facilitate the steepest learning curve I have ever experienced. One of the mantras René will say over and over again is to work “Goal Oriented” when performing microsurgery and this is something he also uses in his way of teaching, there was a clear goal for my course and René did everything possible for me to reach it without wasting any time at all on unnecessary things. I managed to reach my goal and surpass it, that is as with everything else René does he always seems to reach the goal with perfect results and a smile on his face. Thank you very much for a wonderful experience in your Surgical Skills Centre.