Medical students as facilitators for laparoscopic simulator training

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Simulation
• Gynecology Residency Training

Background:

• Medical students have demonstrated effectiveness in teaching basic clinical skills to peers and residents.
• This study investigates the efficacy of medical students in facilitating laparoscopic procedural training for residents via virtual reality (VR) simulators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of medical student facilitators in VR laparoscopic simulator training for gynecology residents.
• To compare the learning outcomes between resident-facilitated and student-facilitated training groups.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study design was employed, comparing two groups of gynecology residents.
• One group received instruction from two medical student facilitators, while the other was instructed by a resident facilitator.
• Both groups of facilitators were experienced in laparoscopic simulator training. Outcome measures included time and repetitions to complete the training program.

Main Results:

• The student-facilitated group required an average of 230 minutes, compared to 200 minutes for the resident-facilitated group (p=0.724).
• Significantly fewer repetitions were needed by the student-facilitated group (19.5) to complete the final examination module versus the resident-facilitated group (39.2) (p=0.007).

Conclusions:

• Medical students can serve as effective facilitators for laparoscopic virtual reality simulator training.
• Student facilitation presents a practical alternative to resident facilitation in surgical skills training programs.