title: Laparoscopic simulation for surgical residents in Ethiopia: course development and results.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We aimed to develop and implement a laparoscopic skills curriculum in an Ethiopian surgical residency program. We hypothesized that residents would improve with practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a laparoscopic curriculum by adapting existing training models. Six courses were conducted during 2012 and 2013 in a teaching hospital in Ethiopia. Eighty-eight surgical residents participated. Main outcome measures were laboratory task completion times and student survey responses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Students showed improvement in time needed to complete skills tasks with practice. Mean times improved for all 5 tasks (P ≤ .01). Students uniformly reported that the course was valuable. The curriculum is now taught and sustained by local faculty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The development and implementation of a collaborative and sustainable laparoscopic curriculum is possible in a low-resource environment. Such a curriculum can result in improved laparoscopic expertise, surgical trainee satisfaction, and may increase utilization of laparoscopy.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA. Electronic address: Ellen.Morrow@hsc.utah.edu.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morrow
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Abebe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bekele
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Ayalew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tegegne
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Berhanu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kotisso
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Jedediah
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Amies Oelschlager
authors.affiliation: Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Brant
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Oelschlager
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005002:Ethiopia; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education*
keywords: Ethiopia; Laparoscopic; Simulation; Surgical education; Training