Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 27, 2025
Retzius-Sparing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy
Published on: May 19, 2022
Medical Students Cannot Assess Robotic Surgeons Performing Radical Prostatectomy
Rikke Groth Olsen1, Lars Konge, Khalilullah Hayatzaki
1From the Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation (CAMES) (R.G.O., L.K., F.B.); Department of Urology (R.G.O., A.R.), Copenhagen Prostate Cancer Center, Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet; Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (L.K., A.R.), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen; Department of Urology (K.H.), Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde; Department of Urology (M.A.M.), Odense University Hospital; Department of Clinical Research (M.A.M.), University of Southern Denmark, Odense; and Department of Surgery, Herlev-Gentofte Hospital (F.B.), Herlev, Denmark.
Medical students are not suitable for assessing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) surgical skills. They showed poor agreement with expert surgeons and could not differentiate skill levels in video assessments.
Area of Science:
- Surgical Education
- Robotic Surgery Assessment
- Medical Simulation
Background:
- Previous studies indicated medical students' effectiveness in video rating.
- This study aimed to compare medical students with experienced surgeons in assessing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) performance via video.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability and skill discrimination ability of medical students compared to experienced surgeons when rating RARP video performances.
- To determine if medical students can serve as effective assessors for simulated robotic surgery skills.
Main Methods:
- Video recordings of 45 RARP procedures performed by novice and experienced surgeons on a simulator were used.
- Assessments were conducted by 50 medical students and 2 experienced RARP surgeons using the modified Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills (GEARS) tool.
- Videos were rated in both full-length and 5-minute edited formats.
Main Results:
- Medical students exhibited poor agreement with experienced surgeons in rating both full-length (0.29) and 5-minute ( -0.13) RARP videos.
- Medical students failed to discriminate between different surgeon skill levels (P = 0.053–0.82).
- Experienced surgeons successfully differentiated skill levels among novice, intermediate, and experienced surgeons in both video formats (P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
- Medical students are not reliable assessors for RARP performance due to low agreement with expert ratings.
- Medical students lack the ability to discern varying levels of surgical expertise from video recordings.
- Experienced surgeons are necessary for accurate skill assessment in simulated RARP.
