Bridging the Learning Gap: Surgery Trainees Hone Vascular Trauma Skills via High-Fidelity Simulation.

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Trauma Surgery
• Vascular Surgery

Background:

• Endovascular techniques have reduced general surgery residents' exposure to essential trauma vascular procedures.
• This leads to a preparedness gap in managing basic vascular emergencies among new graduates.
• The Open Surgical Simulation System (OS3) offers high-fidelity simulation for hands-on skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a new OS3 surgical skills curriculum on residents' self-assessed knowledge, technical skills, and confidence.
• To analyze factors influencing skill self-assessments and course utility.

Main Methods:

• Pre- and post-course surveys using 5-point Likert scales assessed knowledge, skills, and confidence.
• Procedures included resuscitative thoracotomy, laparotomy, splenectomy, liver/small bowel management, and retroperitoneal exploration.
• Linear regression modeled determinants of self-assessments, challenges, and utility.

Main Results:

• 183 trainees completed the simulation; higher postgraduate year correlated with increased self-assessed knowledge, skills, and experience.
• Vascular shunt insertion, aortic crossclamp, and anastomosis were consistently challenging.
• OS3 simulation significantly boosted confidence in multiple trauma procedures (P < 0.02).

Conclusions:

• Nearly half of general surgery trainees report difficulty with essential trauma vascular procedures like shunting and aortic crossclamping.
• The OS3 provides consistent, reproducible training to address this confidence gap in vascular skills.