title: A national survey of endoscopic practice among gynaecologists in Canada.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the current status of endoscopic gynaecological surgery in Canada, as well as the attitudes, perceptions, and educational preferences regarding endoscopy among Canadian obstetrician-gynaecologists.
  
  
  METHODS
  An electronic online survey was sent to 630 obstetrician-gynaecologists in Canada through the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada electronic mailing list. Survey respondents were asked about demographic variables, level of training and current practice of endoscopic procedures, reasons for and barriers to performing endoscopy, and interest in continuing surgical education in laparoscopy and hysteroscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 178 responses (28.3%) were collected and 152 (85.4%) analyzed. The majority of respondents were general obstetrician-gynaecologists (78.0%). More gynaecologic surgeons performed abdominal (92.7%) and vaginal hysterectomies (89.7%) than laparoscopic (68.4%) and robotic hysterectomies (2.2%). Even though 93.2% of respondents selected the endoscopic approach as the preferred approach to surgery for their patients, 38.7% of respondents did not feel that they had adequate training during residency to perform endoscopy. Lack of operating room resources and lack of time and opportunity for further training were frequently selected as major barriers to performing endoscopy. Participants identified weekend continuing medical education courses and trained endoscopic surgeon outreach as preferred methods of acquiring endoscopic skills.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This survey provides a contemporary assessment of the current endoscopic practice patterns of Canadian obstetrician-gynaecologists, and it helps to identify some potentially modifiable factors hindering the practice of endoscopy and some possible solutions to overcoming these barriers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB.
authors.forename: Innie
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Memorial University, St John's NL.
authors.forename: Krisztina I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Bajzak
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa ON.
authors.forename: Yanfang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa ON.
authors.forename: Sukhbir S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*