Transforming Surgical Education through a Resident Robotic Curriculum

Courtney A Green; Hueylan Chern; Stanley J Rogers; Linda M Reilly; Patricia O'Sullivan

doi:10.1097/AS9.0000000000000076

Transforming Surgical Education through a Resident Robotic Curriculum

Ann Surg Open. 2021 Jul 6;2(3):e076. doi: 10.1097/AS9.0000000000000076. eCollection 2021 Sep.

Authors

Courtney A Green¹, Hueylan Chern², Stanley J Rogers², Linda M Reilly², Patricia O'Sullivan^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ From the Division of Trauma, Critical Care and General Surgery, Mayo Clinic Department of Surgery, Rochester, MN.
² Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
³ Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.

Abstract

Objective: Here, we describe a systematic approach to design, implement, and assess a robotic surgery curriculum for surgical residents. By describing our process, including identifying and addressing institutional challenges, we illustrate successful development of a robust curriculum.

Summary background data: As robotic-assisted surgeries increase, educational challenges have emerged and illustrate an alarming impact on medical training. Robotic curricula are frequently grounded in the industry's educational materials resulting in a variety of existing resident curricula that lack cognitive components and critical evaluation. As such, surgical educators struggle to identify the curricular restructuring needs that likely accompany emerging technologies. It is essential to develop a curricular framework for the surgical education community to approach the ongoing and inevitable integration of new technologies.

Methods: Our process parallels the widely accepted approach to curricular development in medical education described by Kern et al. Using this 6-step model, we describe derivation of a curriculum that was data driven, features multimodal educational strategies, and provides documentation methods that allow for continued evaluation and assessment at the individual and departmental level.

Results: This study highlights the systematic process of design, implementation and assessment of a robotic surgery curriculum for surgical residents. Built on a robust national and local needs assessment, and further strengthened by preemptive identification of institutional challenges, this curricular model includes a structured documentation system that allows for ongoing evaluation, assessment, and monitoring of curricular progress.

Conclusions: We illustrate a robustly built curricular structure that can be adopted, adapted, and successfully implemented at other training institutions around the world.

Keywords: robotic surgery; surgical curricula; surgical education; surgical technology; surgical training.