A Cross-Sectional Study of Resident Training in Robotic Surgery in India

Background The widespread implementation of robotic surgery in the Indian subcontinent has received mixed reactions from residents and mentors alike. To date, however, no study has documented the perception of Indian surgical trainees on the effect of robotic surgery on surgical training. Therefore, we conducted a questionnaire-based study on Indian surgical residents to assess their views about robotic surgery and the effect, they believe, it might have on resident training. Materials and methods Questionnaires were distributed to 300 surgical residents from programs that do not have surgical robots. All other residents, faculty, medical students, and interns were excluded from the study. The responses were collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. Results Overall, 210 surgical residents responded to the survey. A majority of them (57.72%) reported low levels of knowledge regarding robotic surgery. While 88.10% of the study participants reported that the use of robotic surgery will continue to rise in India, an equal proportion (88%) believed that procuring a robot in their program will impair their training in open and laparoscopic surgeries. Conclusions The introduction of robotic surgery into surgical residency programs is seen, by most residents, as a threat to training in traditional surgical methods. This calls for the effective incorporation of robotic training into residency training with equal distribution of resident training cases in programs across the country.