Assessment of students' satisfaction with virtual robotic surgery training

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Technology
• Robotic Surgery

Background:

• Bulgaria is experiencing a rise in robot-assisted surgery, necessitating rapid specialist training.
• Medical University of Varna pioneered a robotic surgery training program for medical students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess medical students' satisfaction with robotic surgery training.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the da Vinci Skills Simulator in surgical education.

Main Methods:

• A pilot training program involving 5th-year medical students over two academic years (2020-2022).
• A one-month curriculum comprising theoretical and practical modules using the da Vinci Xi robotic system simulator.
• Post-training questionnaires to gauge student satisfaction and correlation analysis with simulator performance.

Main Results:

• High student satisfaction reported for simulator ease of use (4.3/5) and usefulness (4.5/5).
• 93% of participants expressed interest in further robotic surgery training.
• No significant correlation found between simulator performance metrics and student-reported satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Robotic surgery training is a valuable method for developing surgical skills at the student level.
• Early exposure to robotic surgery can guide students toward specialized surgical fields.
• The da Vinci Skills Simulator is a viable tool for foundational surgical training.