Impact of Timing During Simulated Vitreoretinal Surgery by Trainees

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Surgical Education

Background:

• Assessing surgical trainee performance is crucial for effective training.
• Understanding factors influencing performance, such as time of day, can optimize learning environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of surgical timing (morning vs. evening) on vitreoretinal (VR) trainee performance.
• To evaluate objective and subjective outcomes in a simulated surgical setting.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, cross-over observational study involving VR trainees using the Eyesi surgical simulator.
• Trainees performed standardized surgical tasks, randomly assigned to morning or evening sessions, then crossed over.
• Primary outcomes included objective scores and task completion times; secondary outcomes were subjective scores and complications.

Main Results:

• Eight VR trainees participated, with no significant differences in objective scores or time to complete tasks between morning and evening sessions.
• Complications showed a non-statistically significant trend toward being higher in the evening sessions.
• Subjective assessments by trainees indicated no perceived difference in performance based on surgical timing.

Conclusions:

• Surgical timing does not appear to affect objective performance metrics for VR trainees in a simulated environment.
• While not statistically significant, a trend of increased complications in the evening warrants further investigation.