Transfer of Skills From Simulation Lab to Surgical Services: Impact of a Decade Long Laparoscopic Urology Surgical Course

Abstract

To investigate the impact of decade-long dedicated laparoscopic urology surgical skills course on the successful implementation of surgical services by the participants. A prospective database was maintained for all the participants in urological laparoscopic courses run by a single dedicated unit between January 2016 and December 2016. Data on various variables were collected using a follow-up validated questionnaire exploring speciality of clinical practice, challenges and need for additional training to establish clinical services, improvement in quality and frequency of laparoscopic courses. A subset of participants reported data of their outcomes in a national database available publically. One hundred sixty one delegates were drawn from 18 countries attended laparoscopic skills courses during the study period of 10 years. Data were available for 154 (95.65%) participants. There were only 20 (20/154; 12.9%) responses to online website questionnaires despite 3 reminders. Further, follow-up through websites/telephonic contact/organizational contacts improved the response rate to 93% (143/154). Of the participants, 95% (135/143) felt that these courses should be continued, and they agreed to recommend them to their trainees in the future. More than 50% (81/143; 56.6%) of the participants performed laparoscopic/robotic surgery at various centers. Sixty two (62/143; 43.3%) did not pursue laparoscopic surgery as a career choice. Fifty six (56/81; 69%) participants were established laparoscopic surgeons were from the UK, and of them, 30 (30/56; 53.57%: 30/81; 37.04%) were established surgeons that contributed to publishing their results through professional organizations with the outcomes of all of these within normal ranges of their peers. A dedicated laparoscopic urological surgery course run over a decade had a significant impact on the skills of participants, and most participants were able to establish clinical practice catering to a large proportion of the UK population as well as a few centers internationally.