Impact of Early Exposure to Robotic Surgery Among Pre-clinical Medical Students on Career Choice and Simulation Skills

We aimed to assess whether early exposure of medical students to robotic surgery training influences their interest in a surgical career and improves scores on objective simulation tasks. Medical students were invited to participate in robotic online training modules, robotic simulation exercises fo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American surgeon 2023-11, Vol.89 (11), p.4923-4925
Main Authors: Garcia-Chavez, Hector J., Scaria, Denny, Read, Thomas, Iqbal, Atif
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We aimed to assess whether early exposure of medical students to robotic surgery training influences their interest in a surgical career and improves scores on objective simulation tasks. Medical students were invited to participate in robotic online training modules, robotic simulation exercises followed by a hands-on robotic dry-lab session. Pre- and post-simulator scores were recorded. A 29-question anonymous survey was recorded before and after the lab. Seventy percent reported that the training had a positive impact on influencing their decision to pursue a general surgery career. Students showed significantly improved skill and performance on simulation activities post-training. After the training, students felt knowledgeable about robotics, more comfortable operating robotically, and thought that robotic surgery would hold a significant place in the future of surgery. Exposing students to robotic training positively impacts their perception of surgery as a career choice and results in improvement in objective scores on simulation tasks.
ISSN:0003-1348
1555-9823
DOI:10.1177/00031348211047481