Assessing the value of the SimPraxis laparoscopic cholecystectomy trainer

Our aim was to determine whether the SimPraxis Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Trainer is an effective adjunct for training both junior and senior surgical residents.

During the 2009-2010 academic year, 20 of 27 surgical residents at our institution completed training with the SimPraxis Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Trainer. These 20 residents took an identical 25-question pre- and posttest prepared in-house by a senior laparoscopic surgeon, based on the SimPraxis Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy program content. Included within the SimPraxis program is a multiple data point scoring system. For our reporting purposes, we divided the residents into 2 groups, junior (PGY 1-2; n = 11) and senior (PGY 3-5; n = 9).

The junior residents demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in their post-test scores (P = .001). On the contrary, the senior residents showed nonstatistically significant minor improvement in their examination scores (P = .09). While, the pretest scores were significantly higher for the senior residents compared with the junior residents (P = .003), the post-test scores were nonsignificantly different between the senior vs. the junior residents (P = .07). There was no significant difference between the time it took junior and senior residents to complete the SimPraxis program.

Our data demonstrate that junior residents benefitted the most from the SimPraxis training program. Requiring junior surgical residents to complete both skills and cognitive training programs may be an effective adjunct in preparation for participation in laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedures.