Development of long-term courses in minimally invasive surgery training for the acquisition and retention of laparoscopic skills

Abstract

IntroductionNumerous training methods have been developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) skills’ training. However, there remains a dearth of long-term supervised training, leaving surgeons without the opportunity for continuous practice. Thus, our objective is to report our outcomes for long-term training courses and establish a new approach for organizing a prolonged MIS training course that ensures continuity and encourages sustained practice. MethodsRetrospective study analysis of scores and performance of trainees during our training experience between 2019 and May 2023. Demographics, gender, MIS experience and performance of the participants in each type of modality, virtual and presential, was analyzed. ResultsThe study involved 110 participants. Due to lack of data only 97 were analyzed. In the virtual courses group, there were 63 participants. The average general score of the first encounter during the intensive stage was 2.49 ± 0.75, while the average general score of the last encounter was 3.62 ± 0.56. For the presential courses, the mean general score during the first encounter was 1.88 ± 0.60, and by the last meeting of the intensive stage, the mean general score increased to 3.51 ± 0.69. Notably, among virtual courses 55% of the participants attended to at least 1 follow-up meeting whereas only 2 participants (5.9%) among the in-person group attended the 4-month follow-up meeting. ConclusionThe study shows the effectiveness of virtual and presential long-term MIS courses for acquiring and retaining endoscopic skills and highlights the benefits of virtual courses in terms of accessibility and learning improvement. Type of studyLevel IV