Developing a comprehensive, proficiency-based training program for robotic surgery

Area of Science:

• Robotics in Surgery
• Surgical Education
• Medical Training Technologies

Background:

• Robotically assisted surgery is increasingly prevalent across surgical fields.
• Current surgical training methods lack standardization and validation.
• There is a need for structured, validated training programs in robotic surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a comprehensive, proficiency-based training program for robotic surgery.
• To establish objective metrics for skill assessment in robotic surgery training.
• To evaluate the validity and feasibility of the developed curriculum.

Main Methods:

• Generated a 23-item skill deconstruction list through expert observation and interviews.
• Developed a curriculum including online tutorials, interactive sessions, and inanimate exercises.
• Assessed preliminary construct and content validity, and curriculum feasibility.

Main Results:

• The curriculum included 23 skills, an online tutorial, an interactive session, and 9 inanimate exercises with objective metrics.
• Significant differences in scores between novice and expert groups confirmed construct validity (P < .001).
• High relevance ratings (4.9/5) and pre- to post-test improvements supported content validity and training effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• The developed proficiency-based curriculum effectively covers essential robotic surgery skills.
• Early validation indicates the program's construct validity, content validity, and feasibility.
• Further research is recommended to fully validate the robotic surgery training program.