Effect of Laparoscopic Skills Workshop on Enhancing Knowledge and Skills of Surgical Residents and Its Comparison With DOPS (Direct Observation of Procedural Skills) Scores - Prospective Cohort Study

I. Introduction and Background:

Teaching and learning of psychomotor skills is of paramount importance for surgical residency programs. The 'traditional' model of teaching surgical skills on 'real' patients using graded responsibility is being seriously questioned. More and more focus has recently shifted on the use of models and simulators, with an objective of better preparation of residents for the operating room experience. At Aga Khan University, the focus of surgical training is still on the traditional model, but some innovations have been introduced to enhance the training outcomes and safety of the patients. The innovations include use of short workshops on bench models to train the residents in basic surgical skills before they can operate on the real patients.

The educational impact of such short workshops has been difficult to document, since a long-term follow up is usually not possible. But some recent data suggests that minimal access skills workshops can improve both the knowledge base and motor skills of the trainees. There is also some data to suggest that the skills obtained during a workshop not only have a long lasting effect on the performance of the residents, but may also result in change in practice of the participants. There is no study available where the educational effect of surgical workshop has been correlated with the real time work place based performance of the surgical residents including DOPS (direct observation of procedural skills). DOPS is a form of work place based assessment of residents' knowledge and skills, and can be used as a surrogate marker for the actual performance of the residents in the real world. Improvement of DOPS scores after the workshop might demonstrate the educational influence of the workshop on the residents' knowledge and skills.

II. Rationale and Objective of the Study:

The section of General Surgery at Aga Khan University offers surgical skills workshops to trainees every year to enhance their knowledge and psychomotor skills for the last many years. There is a general perception amongst the trainees and the faculty that these workshops have been quite valuable in refining the skills of the surgical trainees. However, there is no objective data to support this perception and hence there is a need to document the outcome of this important academic activity.