title: Surgical skills training in the laparoscopic era: the use of a helping hand.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a training programme involving an assessment exercise performed on a laparoscopic trainer model leads to an improvement in the acquisition of laparoscopic skills in surgical trainees. Subjects were recruited from a cross-section of surgical trainees at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, Department of Surgery and the Institute of Child Health. All subjects completed both a baseline laparoscopic surgical skills questionnaire and three exercises on a new laparoscopic trainer model. Thirteen subjects completed both the baseline questionnaire and all three assessment exercises. These subjects exhibited a wide range of previous experience in laparoscopic surgery. Sixty-nine percent of subjects showed a significant improvement in the assessment exercise score with training (ANOVA; P = 0.01). Sixty-two percent of subjects showed a greater improvement between exercises 2 and 3 than between exercises 1 and 2. The difference in score between exercises 1 and 2 was not statistically significant (P = 0.597), whereas the difference in score between both exercises 2 and 3 and exercises 1 and 3 was statistically significant (P = 0.018 and P = 0.005, respectively). The double glove training model is thus a simple, inexpensive, and easily reproducible tool that elicits a significant improvement in laparoscopic surgical skills in surgical trainees with a broad range of previous laparoscopic experience. It can therefore be used as part of a training programme to facilitate the acquisition of laparoscopic skills in a paediatric surgery setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3JH, UK. curryj@gosh.nhs.uk
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Nataraja
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ade-Ajayi
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Curry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires