Establishing a training program for residents in robotic surgery.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To develop a program for teaching robotic skills to residents. To assess the development of proficiency in basic robotic surgical skills in a resident cohort.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective educational project using a commercially available surgical robot. Residents use a surgical robot to complete a designated set of tasks intended to simulate surgical maneuvers. Performance is analyzed for errors and total time of procedure.

METHODS

Otolaryngology residents are introduced to robotic surgery with a tutorial on the usage of the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA). Participants perform defined exercises accomplishing the following tasks: circular pin transfer, simultaneous bimanual carrying, precision bead drop, needle passing, and suture tying. Performance of these tasks can be quantitatively assessed.

RESULTS

An educational program for teaching residents basic robotic skills can easily be introduced into a residency program. Resident progress in acquiring robotic surgical skills can be measured. The analysis of variance for composite score revealed statistically significant effects for task (F(4,24) = 8.11, P < .01) and trial (F(2,12) = 5.71, P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Robotic surgery will likely become an integral part of otolaryngologic surgical practice. Training programs in robotic surgery need to be formally established in residency programs. We present a preliminary program for introducing robotic surgical skills in residency training.