Can Interview Prior to Laparoscopic Simulator Training Predict a Trainee's Skills?

Nomura, Tsutomu; Miyashita, Masao; Shrestha, Suman; Makino, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Yoshiharu; Aso, Ryouko; Yoshimura, Akinobu; Shimura, Toshiro; Akira, Shigeo; Tajiri, Takashi

doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2008.07.008

« Previous Next »Journal of Surgical Education
Volume 65, Issue 5 , Pages 335-339, September 2008

Can Interview Prior to Laparoscopic Simulator Training Predict a Trainee's Skills?

Tsutomu Nomura, MD
- Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
- Correspondence: Inquiries to Tsutomu Nomura, MD, Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8603, Japan; fax: 03-5685-0989
Masao Miyashita, MD
- Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Suman Shrestha, MD
- Department of Surgery, Kathmandu Medical College, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Makino, MD
- Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Yoshiharu Nakamura, MD
- Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Ryouko Aso, MD
- Academic Quality and Development Office, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Akinobu Yoshimura, MD
- Academic Quality and Development Office, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Toshiro Shimura, MD
- Academic Quality and Development Office, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Shigeo Akira, MD
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
Takashi Tajiri, MD
- Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Background

Our institute started laparoscopic simulator training for medical students in 2006. During the training, we observed considerable interindividual differences in laparoscopic skills among those students. This study aimed to investigate the predictive factors that affect laparoscopic skill by assessing the students' training results data.

Methods

Forty-three, fifth-year medical students were asked several questions and were divided into 2 groups depending on their answers. The participants performed an object-positioning module on a ProMIS simulator (Haptica, Inc., Dublin, Ireland). Execution time, instrument path length, and economy of movement for each trial were recorded on ProMIS. Comparisons of mean performance measures between the 2 groups were made using a Mann-Whitney U test.

Results

Interest about laparoscopic surgery and accomplishment in playing piano did not affect the skillfulness significantly. The students who had an interest in television (TV) games completed the task in less time (p = 0.046) and had a shorter left instrument path length (p = 0.012). The students who thought themselves manually dexterous completed the task in less time (p = 0.008). The students who were confident about driving completed the task in less time (p = 0.0247).

Discussion

In our interview, the factors that had a relationship to laparoscopic skills were favorableness to TV games, manual dexterity, and confidence about driving. These results were expected because TV games and driving a car require the same abilities as laparoscopic surgery. Psychomotor, perceptual, or visuospatial ability are essential for good performance. In conclusion, our study suggests that the interview can be an effective measure to examine the aptitude of medical students without the use of a simulator.

Key Words: augmented reality simulator, laparoscopic skill, surgical education, competencies

Competency: Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Practice Based Learning and Improvement, Systems Based Practice