Surgical Skills Lab And Their Effectiveness In Enhancing The Competency Of General Surgery Residents: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Surgical skill labs or simulation-based medical education (SBME) for surgical residents is aimed at training and enhancing surgical skills in a safe environment for residents to practice them develop their proficiency before applying them in real-life scenarios. Among the many attributes of simulation, the most important is that it permits exploration and repeated practice in a setting that fosters permission to fail and the opportunity to learn from one’s mistakes making it the perfect tool to learn skills before they are applied in real-life scenarios.

The curriculum may include modules to increase familiarity with surgical instruments, suturing skills, basic laparoscopic training, airway management training and simulated code and critical care management. Basic didactic principles are usually taught in parallel with skills training.

Despite advancements in medical education, there exists a gap in the surgical knowledge and practical application of surgical skills resulting in poor overall patient delivery, skills lab and SBME help to bridge this existing gap in surgical training.

Few studies are available in the literature which have tested surgical skills and their assessment both in the skill lab and in real-life scenarios. This study will endeavor to enlighten us on both these aspects.