Author's Reply

Changes to Training Practices during a Pandemic - The Experience of the Irish National Trauma & Orthopaedic Training Scheme

Assessing Independent Effects of Anemia and Transfusion on Late Mortality

Arthroscopic Shoulder Simulation May Improve Short-Term Speed, Accuracy, and Efficiency of Surgical Movements in Orthopaedic Residents and Fellows: A Systematic Review

Invited Commentary

El papel de la formación cognitiva en la endourología: un ensayo controlado aleatorizado

Does simulation really increase gynecologic surgical skill?

The Incidence of DVT

The objective of this paper is to describe the current status, advantages, and disadvantages of Virtual Reality simulators as tools for training and assessment of laparoscopic skills. This is a review of publications about Virtual Reality simulators in laparoscopic training and assessment. Information was obtained through author’s experience and by search of MEDLINE using the keywords Virtual Reality simulation, training, assessment and laparoscopic surgery. The references cited in these studies were reviewed to find out whether any other trials fitted the selection criteria. There are several validated Virtual Reality systems that allow the transfer of skills from the virtual environment to the operating room and objective assessment of operative skills in laparoscopic surgery. In conclusion, Virtual Reality simulators are valid and objective tools in surgical education. Several systems are currently considered sufficiently validated and ready to be implemented in comprehensive educational curricula in minimally invasive surgery.

Simulator Training for Recognition of Murmurs: Response

Resident Cataract Surgery

Virtual Reality Simulation as a Tool for ENT Training: An Autoethnographic Study.

We conducted a comprehensive review of surgical simulation models used in robotic surgery education. We present an assessment of the validity and cost-effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality simulation, animal, cadaver and synthetic organ models. Face, content, construct, concurrent and predictive validity criteria were applied to each simulation model. There are six major commercial simulation machines available for robot-assisted surgery. The validity of virtual reality (VR) simulation curricula for psychomotor assessment and skill acquisition for the early phase of robotic surgery training has been demonstrated. The widespread adoption of VR simulation has been limited by the high cost of these machines. Live animal and cadavers have been the accepted standard for robotic surgical simulation since it began in the early 2000s. Our review found that there is a lack of evidence in the literature to support the use of animal and cadaver for robotic surgery training. The effectiveness of these models as a training tool is limited by logistical, ethical, financial and infection control issues. The latest evolution in synthetic organ model training for robotic surgery has been driven by new 3D-printing technology. Validated and cost-effective high-fidelity procedural models exist for robotic surgery training in urology. The development of synthetic models for the other specialties is not as mature. Expansion into multiple surgical disciplines and the widespread adoption of synthetic organ models for robotic simulation training will require the ability to engineer scalability for mass production. This would enable a transition in robotic surgical education where digital and synthetic organ models could be used in place of live animals and cadaver training to achieve robotic surgery competency.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the practical knowing that is central in police education. Drawing on perspectives about tacit knowledge and embodied learning (e.g. Merleau-Ponty, 1945/1997; Polanyi, 1966; Argyris and Schön, 1974) as well as empirical examples, this paper discusses the design of and what can be expected from computer simulation training for the development of police students’ professional knowing.Design/methodology/approachThe discussion is based on lessons learned from working with two different computer simulation training situations designed to prepare the students for an upcoming practical training by facilitating the understanding of complex situations as they should be handled in the physical training situation.FindingsThe experiences from the training sessions showed that the different characteristics of the simulations mediate how the training session was performed, e.g., unplanned trial and error vs focused and attentive, but also group discussions about how to act and appropriate actions in relation to the situation to be solved in the simulation.Originality/valueBased on the lessons learned from working with the two different computer simulations, it is posited that the use of computer simulations for practical scenario training is a complex endeavor that needs, in various degrees, to be supported by pedagogical steering. The design of computer simulation training (both the simulation and how the training is designed and performed) need to consider the specific aspects that surround tacit knowledge and embodied learning in the “real sense” (anchored to the practical training) to be of relevance for police students development of professional knowing.

Excellence in performance and stress reduction during two different full scale simulator training courses: A pilot study

To create and validate a synthetic simulator for teaching tracheostomy and laryngotracheal reconstruction (LTR) using anterior costal cartilage and thyroid ala cartilage grafts. A late adolescent/adult neck and airway simulator was constructed based on CT scans from a cadaver and a live patient. Images were segmented to create three-dimensional printed molds from which anatomical parts were casted. To evaluate the simulator, expert otolaryngologists - head and neck surgeons performed tracheostomy and LTR using anterior costal cartilage and thyroid ala cartilage grafts on a live anesthetized porcine model (gold standard) followed by the synthetic simulator. They evaluated each model for face validity (realism and anatomical accuracy) and content validity (perceived effectiveness as a training tool) using a five-point Likert scale. For each expert, differences for each item on each simulator were compared using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests with Sidak correction. Nine expert faculty surgeons completed the study. Experts rated face and content validity of the synthetic simulator an overall median of 4 and 5, respectively. There was no difference in scores between the synthetic model and the live porcine model for any of the steps of any of the surgical procedures. The synthetic simulator created for this study has high face and content validity for tracheostomy and LTR with anterior costal cartilage and thyroid ala cartilage grafts and was not found to be different than the live porcine model for these procedures. 5 Laryngoscope, 131:E2378-E2386, 2021.