Steven Andersen
MD, PhD
Robotic surgery
Publication Types:
Design and validation of a cross-specialty simulation-based training course in basic robotic surgical skills
Background: The aim of this study was to design and validate a cross-specialty basic robotic surgical skills training program on the RobotiX Mentor virtual reality simulator.
Methods: A Delphi panel reached consensus on six modules to include in the training program. Validity evidence was collected according to Messick’s framework with three performances in each simulator module by 11 experienced robotic surgeons and 11 residents without robotic surgical experience.
Results: For five of the six modules, a compound metrics-based score could significantly discriminate between the performances of novices and experienced robotic surgeons. Pass/fail levels were established, resulting in very few novices passing in their first attempt.
Conclusions: This validated course can be used for structured simulation-based basic robotic surgical skills training within a mastery learning framework where the individual trainee can practice each module until they achieve proficiency and can continue training on other modalities and more specific to their specialty.
Validity evidence for procedural competency in virtual reality robotic simulation, establishing a credible pass/fail standard for the vaginal cuff closure procedure
BACKGROUND: The use of robotic surgery for minimally invasive procedures has increased considerably over the last decade. Robotic surgery has potential advantages compared to laparoscopic surgery but also requires new skills. Using virtual reality (VR) simulation to facilitate the acquisition of these new skills could potentially benefit training of robotic surgical skills and also be a crucial step in developing a robotic surgical training curriculum. The study’s objective was to establish validity evidence for a simulation-based test for procedural competency for the vaginal cuff closure procedure that can be used in a future simulation-based, mastery learning training curriculum.
METHODS: Eleven novice gynaecological surgeons without prior robotic experience and 11 experienced gynaecological robotic surgeons (> 30 robotic procedures) were recruited. After familiarization with the VR simulator, participants completed the module ‘Guided Vaginal Cuff Closure’ six times. Validity evidence was investigated for 18 preselected simulator metrics. The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and a composite score was calculated based on metrics with significant discriminative ability between the two groups. Finally, a pass/fail standard was established using the contrasting groups’ method.
RESULTS: The experienced surgeons significantly outperformed the novice surgeons on 6 of the 18 metrics. The internal consistency was 0.58 (Cronbach’s alpha). The experienced surgeons’ mean composite score for all six repetitions were significantly better than the novice surgeons’ (76.1 vs. 63.0, respectively, p < 0.001). A pass/fail standard of 75/100 was established. Four novice surgeons passed this standard (false positives) and three experienced surgeons failed (false negatives).
CONCLUSION: Our study has gathered validity evidence for a simulation-based test for procedural robotic surgical competency in the vaginal cuff closure procedure and established a credible pass/fail standard for future proficiency-based training.