Teaching Residents Frontal Sinus Anatomy Using a Novel 3-Dimensional Conceptualization Planning Software-Based Module

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anatomy
• Surgical Training

Background:

• The Frontal Sinus Masterclass (FSMC) is an established method for teaching frontal sinus anatomy.
• New educational software was developed based on the FSMC's 3D building block concept.
• This study evaluated the efficacy of the new software compared to the original FSMC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if the new software-based educational module yields results comparable to the original FSMC.
• To assess the impact of the software on residents' understanding of frontal sinus anatomy.
• To evaluate the software's effectiveness in improving the identification of frontal sinus structures and drainage pathways.

Main Methods:

• A sinus course for residents included pre- and post-course tests.
• Participants used new software to reconstruct frontal sinus anatomy from CT scans.
• Anatomy was further explained with surgical videos, progressing in complexity.

Main Results:

• Fifty residents completed the study, with overall scores increasing from 60.5% to 65.2%.
• The ability to locate the frontal drainage pathway improved significantly (32.5% to 46%).
• Accuracy in labeling frontal recess cells increased from 64% to 67.6%.

Conclusions:

• The software-based FSMC simulation training objectively improved residents' ability to recognize frontal recess cells on CT scans.
• Participants demonstrated enhanced localization of the frontal sinus drainage pathway.
• Subjective feedback indicated participants felt the course improved their surgical skills.