The surgical spectacle: a survey of urologists viewing live case demonstrations

Abstract

Objective• To evaluate perspectives of urologists viewing live case demonstrations (LCD) and taped case demonstrations (TCD). Method• A 15-question anonymous survey was distributed to attendees of the live surgery session at the American Urological Association 2012 national meeting (Atlanta) and the second International Challenges in Endourology meeting (Paris). Results• Of 1000 surveys distributed, 253 were returned completed (response rate 25%). Nearly half of respondents were in the academic practice setting and nearly 75% were beyond training.• Just over 30% had performed a LCD previously. The perceived benefit of an LCD was greater than unedited and edited videos (chi-squared P = 0.014 and P < 0.001, respectively). Nearly no one selected 'not helpful' and a few selected 'minimally helpful' for any of the three forms of demonstration.• Most respondents identified that opportunity to ask questions (61%) and having access to the full unedited version (72%), two features inherent to LCD, improved upon the educational benefit of edited videos.• Most (78%) identified LCD as ethical. However, those that did not perceived lower educational benefit from LCD (P = 0.019).• A slim majority (58%) would allow themselves or a family member to be a patient of a LCD and the vast majority (86%) plan to transfer knowledge gained at the LCD session into their practice. Conclusions• Urologists who attended these LCD sessions identified LCDs as beneficial and applicable to their practice. • LCDs are preferred over videos. The large majority considers LCD ethical, although not as many would volunteer themselves for LCD.• Further studies are necessary to determine if there is actual benefit from LCD over TCD to patient care.

Systematic review of live surgical demonstrations and their effectiveness on training

“…In total six studies were identified that investigated the educational value of live surgery ( Table S2 , supporting information). Three were conducted by Gandsas and colleagues to assess the feasibility of surgical broadcasting.…”

“…The study carried out by McIntyre and co-workers 12 is the only one to use objective measures: concurrent validity was established by comparison with the current standard of OR teaching. Elsamra and colleagues 13 and Gul et al 14 used subjective measures to demonstrate content and concurrent validity and acceptability. However, little else has been done to strengthen the validity of live surgery; its educational impact, cost and value lack any evidence.…”

Surgical teaching in urology: patient safety and educational value of ‘LIVE’ and ‘SEMI-LIVE’ surgical demonstrations

“…The items addressed in the survey were based on the literature and on input from the organizers, who coordinated the live and semi-live surgeries [ 7 , 9 – 12 ]. A committee of ten test participants reviewed the survey questions in several rounds to ensure the comprehensibility.…”

“…Previous surveys revealed a positive perception of the educational value of semi-LSD [ 7 , 8 ]. Nonetheless, the attractiveness of semi-LSD is often challenged by bias of pre-selection [ 9 ]. The present study evaluates the perception on safety and educational value of both the audience and the performing urologists directly after two consecutive days of LSD and semi-LSD.…”

The surgical spectacle: a survey of urologists viewing live case demonstrations

“…The core issue about LCDs is that at present there is no solid scientific evidence of their educational value, and this is outlined in the paper by Elsamra et al. published in this issue of BJUI , which commendably attempts to evaluate the educational benefit of LCDs in terms of perception, clearly not a very strong criterion.…”