Development and implementation of a virtual reality laparoscopic colorectal training curriculum

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Medical Simulation
• Virtual Reality in Medicine

Background:

• Surgical training faces challenges due to limited practical opportunities.
• Simulation-based training can enhance skills development and progress monitoring.
• Virtual reality (VR) offers a promising platform for surgical simulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct and assess a structured virtual reality (VR) laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy curriculum.
• To evaluate the validity and learning outcomes of the VR curriculum.
• To establish objective metrics for assessing surgical trainee performance.

Main Methods:

• Defined performance parameters and thresholds using expert surgeons on the LAP Mentor simulator.
• Trained 14 surgical trainees using the structured VR curriculum.
• Recorded and analyzed trainee performance data to assess validity and learning curves.

Main Results:

• Key performance metrics, including procedure time and instrument movement, showed evidence of validity.
• Clear learning curves were observed, indicating skill progression.
• A median of 14 attempts was required for trainees to complete the curriculum.

Conclusions:

• A structured VR curriculum for laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy training is proposed.
• The curriculum utilizes objective metrics and expert consensus for skill assessment.
• Validity of key performance metrics within the VR environment has been demonstrated.