This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Medical Education  • Surgical Interventions, Other  • Surgery, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Dimitrios Stefanidis, MD, PhD; B. Todd Heniford, MD

Arch Surg. 2009;144(1):77-82.

Although multiple simulators have been validated as effective training tools, curriculum development is lagging, and considerable work is needed to determine the best methods for training. This article identifies the factors that influence the successful incorporation of simulator training into the resident curriculum, reviews the evidence regarding laparoscopic curriculum development in the surgical literature, and provides a formula for effective curriculum design. A successful laparoscopic skills curriculum depends on many factors including participant motivation, available resources and personnel, and trainee and faculty commitment. It should encompass goal-oriented training, sensitive and objective performance metrics, appropriate methods of instruction and feedback, deliberate, distributed, and variable practice, an amount of overtraining, maintenance training, and a cognitive component. A curriculum that follows these principles is likely to spark trainee interest, ensure their satisfaction and participation in training sessions, and lead to an effective and efficient way of acquiring new skills using simulators. A skills curriculum is a dynamic process that should be tailored to individual needs and be continuously optimized based on accumulated evidence and experience.

Author Affiliations: Division of Gastrointestinal and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

The Formula for a Successful Laparoscopic Skills Curriculum—Invited Critique
Gary Dunnington
Arch Surg. 2009;144(1):82.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Training surgeons to perform robotically assisted totally endoscopic coronary surgery.
Schachner et al.
Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2009;88:523-527.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT