How does telementoring impact medical education within the surgical field? A scoping review.

BACKGROUND

Surgical education strongly involves the use of mentorship to improve the confidence and efficiency of trainees. Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic may serve as a catalyst to promote the use of telementoring and other remote learning opportunities in medical education.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature review was performed using the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library with respect to telementoring in the surgical field.

RESULTS

The overall consensus of telementoring experience among all 25 studies was generally positive, citing "positive experience," "increased confidence," and "increased surgical skill." Using over 15 different technologies, a total of 12 simulations, 149 tasks, and 491 surgeries were conducted via telementoring. Eight mentor-mentee relationships were identified, with the most common relationship being surgeon-to-surgeon in 12 studies.

CONCLUSIONS

The implementation of telementoring has been shown to be effective in improving surgical skills and learner experiences while overcoming financial and geographical barriers.