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Sustainability of skill courses for general and visceral surgery--evaluation of the long-term effect
Jörn Gröne1, Jörg-Peter Ritz, Heinz J Buhr
1Department of General, Vascular and Thoracic Surgery, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200, Berlin, Germany.
Background:
Surgical skills courses are becoming increasingly popular. This study focuses on their long-term effects.
Participants And Methods:
Participants in a 1-week general and visceral surgery course were included. Exercises in conventional and laparoscopic surgery were conducted under tutor guidance. Eighteen months after the course at the earliest (18-90), all participants (n = 756) from 1999 to 2005 received a standardized questionnaire on the surgical training situation, the learning success, the implementation of acquired skills in routine clinical practice, and the value of skills courses.
Results:
We evaluated 459 of 756 participants (60.7%). The percentage of participants fully confident in their ability to suture a simple and a difficult anastomosis increased from 56.9% and 21.6% before to 93.5% and 59.3% after the course (p < 0.05). An improved surgical technique after the course was reported by 86.9%. Instrument handling changed after the course in 76.9%, and 68.1% stuck to this change. The evaluation showed that 89.5% wanted skill courses to become an integral part of surgical training.
Conclusion:
Participants in a general and visceral surgery course profit from long-term modification and improvement of their surgical technique. The course is still rated positively many years later. A 1-week skills course in general and visceral surgery is an attractive module with long-term effects on surgical training.
