A simulator-based resident curriculum for laparoscopic common bile duct exploration

Endoscopes and the “Superbug” Outbreak

“…4 Of equal importance, choledocholithiasis can often be managed intraoperatively via the laparoscopic exploration of the common bile duct. With rapid advances in simulator training, 5 we should prioritize teaching surgeons, both those in training and those in an established practice, to learn these effective, minimally invasive techniques for managing choledocholithiasis.…”

Operator experience determines performance in a simulated computer-based brain tumor resection task

“…Furthermore, this study also expands previous work by measuring clinically relevant variables in longer surgical tasks, assessing learning curve data by repeating the same surgical task on different days to evaluate changes in performance over time, and evaluating the effect of coaching on improving surgical performance [12,13]. In non-neurosurgical simulations, coaching and repeated trials has been shown to improve outcomes and decrease operative error [20,21]. Identification of similar findings for brain surgery simulators would help to promote the use of these simulators as a training tool.…”

Systematic review to establish absolute standards for technical performance in surgery

“…Standard‐setting studies incorporated participants at various stages of their career. Of the 37 articles, 26 included postgraduate trainees (residents and interns). For example, Tjiam and colleagues established certification standards for residents in laparoscopic urological skills by comparing global ratings of a cohort of staff surgeons and trainees stratified by case volume into expert, intermediate and novice groups.…”

“…Of these, 12 were derived from a simulated surgical environment and only one from a clinical setting ( Table ). Unlike the participant‐centred literature, the majority of item‐centred studies used task‐specific metrics to set standards, ten in total, whereas only one used global rating alone, and two used a combination of global rating and task‐specific methods ( Table ). One group of authors has published multiple studies that utilize a task‐specific checklist to assess internal medicine residents' technical skill in a variety of bedside procedures.…”

“…As noted in Table , all open and endoscopic procedure studies used participant‐centred methodology. Ten studies determined competency benchmarks in laparoscopic and robotic surgery, ten set standards in bedside procedures using item‐centred methodology, and only two used participant‐centred techniques.…”