**1. Introduction**

Today the younger neurosurgical generation has a reduced possibility for practical training in nearly all fields of neurosurgery. Accordingly, neurosurgical training models show increasing popularity. However, skull-base surgery often has a higher level of difficulty and is therefore rarely integrated into the basic surgical training of younger neurosurgeons. Even sophisticated modern, computer-based 3D models cannot adequately replace the important practical and hands-on surgical training. For this reason, we need realistic and gradually coordinated practical scenarios to learn and practice basic neurosurgical skills in sequential steps. Here we present some easy-to-implement practical examples that have proven themselves for operative training in skull-base surgery and for vascular microsurgery.

The number of skull-base procedures as well as microsurgical clipping of cerebral aneurysms is continuously decreasing. Meanwhile, the endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms has markedly reduced the number of microsurgical clipping procedures. The result will be a reduced possibility for practical training in aneurysm surgery, especially for the younger generation [1–3]. Stereotactic radiosurgery on one hand, and the increasing number of patients successfully treated by endovascular techniques on the other hand, will further reduce the overall caseload in skull-base and vascular microsurgery in the next years. However, especially huge, calcified or wide neck aneurysms will remain for microsurgical clip occlusion and will be a challenge for cerebrovascular neurosurgeons in the future. On the other hand, revascularisation and bypass techniques will be more and more in demand [4, 5]. Due to these conditions, concepts and realistic models for practical microsurgical training are necessary to improve the practical skills in neurosurgeons during their training, especially in the field of vascular and skull base surgery [6–12].
