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VIRTUAL REALITY CHECK-New Medical Simulation Lab Changes the Way Doctors Are Trained and Patients are Treated
Alyson Knapp BS, Mohamad Salkini, MD, Jo Marie Gellerman BA, and Allan J. Hamilton, MD

Telemedicine (TM)can transmit information at distance for optimal medical care and may be useful for remote mentoring. TM net work have proved safe and effective although their current application focus on clinical evaluation. Laparoscopic surgery is known to have a steep learning curve; simulators are of proven value to transfer acquired skills into the operative setting. We evaluated the application of the TM network to assess remote versus proximal training of simulated laparoscopy. Our hypothesis was that remote mentoring would consume more time and prove less efficient.

Material and Methods: Sixteen procedurally naive medical students were randomized into two groups and mentored to perform nine training tasks on commercially available laparoscopic trainers; students repeated each task five times. Both students group were trained by a single mentor. The proximal group trained with the faculty mentor at their side viewing the laparoscopic video image; and assisting them by direct demonstration and manipulation of instruments. The remote group was trained at a distance employing the TM network so no direct physical communication occurred. The efficiency of remote and proximal groups was statistically compared.

Results: The remote group demonstrated no significant differences in skill acquisition (66.6 +/-15 and 47.3 +/-10) seconds (P >0.02) or final performance speed from the proximal group. No difference in the total training time was observed  Between proximal and remote training 121 (89-142) VS 107(80- 150) minute respectively (P<0.07)

Conclusion: Remote laparoscopic mentoring may be just as effective as the proximal training, suggesting that increased utilization of TM networks could dramatically improve access to laparoscopic mentoring.

View a PDF of the poster presented at Arizona Health Sciences Center Frontiers in Biomedical Research Poster Forum, Dec. 2005.