No abstract

Preliminary results of construct validation efforts of the ProMIS simulator show that it can distinguish between experts and novices and has promising psychometric properties. The attractive feature of ProMIS is that a wide variety of MIS tasks can be used to train and assess technical skills.

This study demonstrated that FLS certification for practicing surgeons and proficiency verification for OR personnel are feasible. A baseline skills failure rate of 33% and a certification failure rate of 13% suggest that FLS certification may be necessary to ensure surgeon competency. Fortunately, with only moderate practice, significant improvement can be achieved.

Proficiency levels for laparoscopic skills have now been established on a national scale by experienced laparoscopic surgeons using the MIST-VR simulator. Residency programs, training centers, and practicing surgeons can now use these data as guidelines for performance criterion during MIST-VR skills training.

The type and quality of feedback during psychomotor skill acquisition for MIS have a large effect on the strength of skills generalization to a simple MIS task and should be given serious consideration in curriculum design for surgical training using simulation tasks.

No abstract

Significant differences in measured but not clinically apparent cardiopulmonary parameters were encountered. The difference in insufflation gas, different vagal or catecholamine response may be contributing to these findings.

NCT01214252 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).