title: Lessons learned: end-user assessment of a skills laboratory based training programme for urology trainees.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  • To evaluate the benefit of a skills laboratory based training programme to urology resident training by end-user assessment.
  
  
  METHODS
  • All participants in a urological skills workshop programme conducted at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Melbourne, Australia, between 2004 and 2009 were included. • This was a retrospective review using a structured questionnaire. • Topics regarding course organization, content, delivery and relevance to clinical practice were examined. • Free-text entry responses allowed participants to elaborate on specific points as appropriate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  • During the study period, 35 individual workshops were conducted. • In all, 41 of 43 eligible participants completed the survey for a response rate of 95%. • Overall, 26 (63%) found the experience valuable, interesting and useful. • Of the remainder (37%), four (10%) found it interesting but not useful to training, five (12%) found it useful and a good idea but not well conducted, and two (5%) found it neither interesting nor useful for training. • Workshop success was intimately related to the quality of the simulator or model used: highly rated workshops consistently used models that were 'realistic' and 'life-like', while poorly rated workshops were associated with models considered 'impossible' and 'not tested'.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  • The use of skills laboratory based workshops can enhance the surgical training of urology residents, at least as assessed by the end-users themselves. • However, closer attention to the selection and use of properly tested and validated models may maximize the educational opportunity. • Translational research prospectively examining the impact of workshops on live patient surgery and outcomes is still required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Geelong Hospital and Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grills
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lawrentschuk
authors.forename: Niall M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Corcoran
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D017145:Models, Educational; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013552:Swine; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures / Q000193:education*; D014572:Urology / Q000193:education