Development and testing of a robotic surgical training curriculum for novice surgeons

Abstract

A robotics practice curriculum was developed utilizing dry lab skills and testing parameters based upon the objective structured assessment of surgical tasks (OSATS) to determine its effectiveness in training novice surgeons. We recruited 20 medical students who were oriented to the DaVinci S console and instrumentation. They were pre-tested with four dry lab skills including manipulation, transection, suturing and knot tying. A control group was instructed to practice once weekly to attain proficiency and the intervention group was provided specific instructions regarding practice goals. Each subject was post-tested after a 6-week time. There were 17 students who completed the post-testing. All participants showed significant improvement in pre-test and post-test scores for manipulation (6.6-11.2, p < 0.0005), transection (3.5-6.9, p < 0.0005), knot tying (0.4-1.7, p = 0.003), and suturing (2.0-3.5, p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in pre-test and post-test scores between the control and intervention groups in manipulation, transection, knot tying, and suturing (p = 0.700, 0.782, 0.682, 0.605, respectively). Our study shows that novice surgeons such as medical students can improve dry lab robotics skills with instruction and practice.

Model Development of a Novel Robotic Surgery Training Exercise With Electrocautery

“…Other inanimate models have been developed for robotic training of procedure-specific skills such as intracorporeal bowel anastomosis and basic surgical skills [ 14 , 15 ]. Some authors argue that dry-lab training on inanimate tissue models could be superior to virtual reality simulation for more advanced skills training [ 16 ].…”