Utility of the GoPro Hero 3 Camera as an Educational Tool For Vaginal Surgical Skills

Surgical Skills Assessment:

Resident Control Group (Routine Educational Practice): Participants in this group will be exposed to routine surgical education as practiced at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Department of OB/Gyn. This includes real time instruction at the time of surgery for the resident trainee performing all or part of the procedure as appropriate for their level of training. The resident may use any teaching tools before or after the surgery including online surgical videos, a surgical atlas or textbook. Immediately after the procedure the attending surgeon will evaluate the trainee using a validated 13-item Vaginal Surgical Skills Index (VSSI) form and the 7-item Global Rating Scale of Operative Performance (GRS) . The use of this scale is also part of standard surgical educational practice. The trainee will then perform an additional procedure of the same type within a 4 week period (the average duration of a rotation) and again undergo evaluation using the VSSI form by the attending surgeon. This is again part of routine educational practice in order to monitor progression of surgical skills.

Resident GoPro Group: Participants assigned this group will perform or assist with the procedure based on level of training and experience, as is usual practice in the residency training program. The resident surgeon will be wearing the camera (GoPro Hero 3) during the procedure. This is not part of routine practice. Immediately after the procedure the attending surgeon will evaluate the trainee using the VSSI and GRS forms. The trainee will then have a chance to review the video of their surgery with the attending surgeon within a 14-day period. The trainee will then perform a 2nd procedure of the same type within a 4 week period (the average duration of a rotation) and again undergo evaluation using the VSSI form by the attending surgeon. It is common for residents to perform a type of procedure (cerclage, culdoplasty, vaginal hysterectomy, etc.) many times during a rotation. However, for the purpose of the research study, we will only be comparing the change in the VVSI score between 2 procedures.

In both groups, surgical assistants will be instructed not to automatically assist but to wait for the participant to instruct them on what assistance they require.

The surgical skills inventory will be marked by the participant with their numerical designation and will then be placed in a locked box in the pre-operative area of the Humphrey operating room suite. These will be collected by the study investigators at the end of each week. The key to the box will be kept in a locked cabinet in Amy Schmidt's office on the 5th floor of MacDonald Women's Hospital.