Page 31 - Jourmal of World Association of Laparoscopic Surgeon

WJOLS

10.5005/jp-journals-10033-1178
REVIEW ARTICLE A Review of Medical Education in Minimally Invasive Surgery
A Review of Medical Education in Minimally

Invasive Surgery

Shamanique Shamona Bodie

ABSTRACT Moreover, as the transition is made from conventional
open to laparoscopy and robotic surgery, areas including
The benefits of minimally invasive surgery have been well
documented. The use of minimally invasive surgery has also learning these skills, assessment of proficiency in these areas
been increasing in many specialties including gynecology. and structured training for surgeons in practice and training
Medical education has a traditional motto which has been; see is important. Understanding how these surgical techniques
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one, do one, teach one. However, with laparoscopy and robotics
this paradigm may not be the best case for the practitioner or are learned and how such learning can be best assessed will
the patient especially with the increasing attempt to minimize enable us to develop protocols for training and set standards
the footprint of surgical education. With this in mind, we have to for competence and proficiency. As laparoscopic has in use
learn how to best educate future minimally invasive surgeons, longer than robotic surgery, information on how to proceed
particularly laparoscopic and robotic surgeons. The present
study provides a review of similarities and differences in the with robotic training may be gained from reviewing the
medical education of laparoscopy and robotic surgery. This strides in laparoscopic education.
article also highlights the deficiencies and future work required
to advance laparoscopic and robotic surgical training. AIM
Keywords: Laparoscopic training, Robotic training, Robotic The aim of this article is to review the medical education
surgery, Laparoscopic surgery, Robotic surgical education,
Laparoscopic surgical education, Robotic learning curve, involved in developing minimal access surgeons specifically
Laparoscopy learning curve. laparoscopists and robotic surgeons. This review looks at
some similarities and current differences in medical
How to cite this article: Bodie SS. A Review of Medical
Education in Minimally Invasive Surgery. World J Lap Surg education.
2013;6(1):33-36.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Source of support: Nil
Conflict of interest: None declared An electronic literature search was performed, restricted to
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the English language, of PubMed , MEDLINE and search
INTRODUCTION engines, such as Google. Studies that were eligible for
review included surgical skills training in postgraduate
Based on World Health Organization (WHO) data from 29% surgical trainees to capture studies reviewing the educational
of participating countries it is estimated that 234.2 million requirements of laparoscopic and robotic surgery education
major surgical procedures are undertaken every year and training. The Google search engine, MEDLINE and
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worldwide. The hysterectomy is the most commonly PubMed databases were systematically searched until
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performed gynecologic surgery, with an estimated 600,000 November 2012. References from retrieved articles were
2
performed each year. Minimally invasive surgical reviewed to broaden the search.
techniques currently make up a minority of the procedure;
however, they are becoming increasingly common in many RESULTS
surgical specialties’ including gynecologic surgery. Each
minimal invasive system (robotics and laparoscopy) have Laparoscopy
documented benefits over traditional open surgery including Laparoscopy was introduced into gynecology in the United
less postoperative pain, shorter hospital stays, faster return States in the late 1960s and slowly advanced from a
to normal activities, and decreased blood loss and adhesion diagnostic procedure. In the early 1970s, Professor Kurt
formation which make them attractive modalities for Semm of Germany expanded the therapeutic applications
3,4
surgeons to incorporate in their repertoire. However, of laparoscopy by performing oophorectomies, appendec-
laparoscopy and robotic surgery can be challenging to learn, tomies, myomectomies, and extensive adhesiolysis.
to train surgeons in and to validate the educational process. However, other gynecologists did not immediately see the
The learning curve for many procedures has been utility until the mid to late 70s. The early efforts were the
documented and studied including the curve for robotic and ground work for later advanced laparoscopic operations. 10,11
laparoscopic surgery. 5-8 Besides the lack of a larger incision as in conventional
World Journal of Laparoscopic Surgery, January-April 2013;6(1):33-36 33