title: The perception of gastroenterology fellows towards the relationship between hand size and endoscopic training.
abstract: Some endoscopic trainees find it difficult to manipulate an endoscope's controls, possibly due to small hand size. To assess this, a survey was mailed to all gastroenterology fellows in the US. Two hundred twenty-seven of 1,295 (17.5%) fellows responded. Median surgical glove size was 7.5. Ninety-three respondents (41.0%) considered their hand too small for a standard endoscope's handle; 176 (78.2%) felt that hand size affects the ability to learn endoscopy. Seventy-seven (34.2%) would use smaller handled endoscopes if available. Of the 38 respondents with glove sizes < or =6.5, 37 (97.4%) were female. These respondents were more likely to consider their hand too small (P < 0.001), want to use smaller handled endoscopes (P < 0.001), and feel that training programs should offer them (P = 0.009). These results suggest that a significant number of trainees, especially women, perceive that their hands are too small for standard endoscopes and believe that hand size plays a role in learning and performing endoscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Jackson Memorial Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Jahnavi R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: Leonardo J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Tamariz
authors.forename: Ryan D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Madanick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D005762:Gastroenterology / Q000193:education*; D006225:Hand / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires