Preparing OB/GYN Residents for the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery Exam

Abstract

Study Objective Describe our experience preparing residents for the ABOG-required Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) exam. Design Survey. Setting Post-exam survey distributed May 2020 to evaluate curriculum. Patients or Participants OB/GYN residents. Interventions FLS proficiency-based curriculum was implemented. Proctored practice sessions were provided by faculty or MIGS fellow every 5 weeks. Measurements and Main Results Thirty residents across two programs took the 2019 FLS exam with 100% first attempt pass rate (20 PGY3, 10 PGY2). Survey response rate was 24/30 (80%). 100% reported they felt “very prepared” or “prepared” for the hands-on skill exam compared to 54.17% for the didactic portion. 95.8% viewed the didactic modules ≥ twice. A strong correlation was not observed between number of times modules viewed and feelings of preparedness for the didactic portion of the exam (ρ=-0.25). 95.8% reported practicing skills with faculty or MIGS fellow prior to their test and 100% found these sessions helpful. Most residents spent >5 hours practicing skills prior to their exam (50% practiced 5-10 hours, 33.3% practiced >10 hours). 87.5% noted >75% of practice time was in addition to protected teaching time. 95.8% reported FLS skills practice resulted in improved surgical skills, although 54.17% felt improvement was small. 83.3% felt taking the exam in the second year of residency was best in preparing them to get the most out of their OR experience while 12.5% felt like the first year would be a better year to take it. Residents reported improved access to equipment, more proctored sessions earlier in the year, and more protected time to independently practice would improve their exam preparation. Conclusion Implementation of the FLS proficiency based curriculum was successful across two OB/GYN residency programs with 100% pass rate and 100% of residents feeling very prepared/prepared to take the hands on portion of the FLS exam.