The role of multimedia interactive programs in training for laparoscopic procedures

Background: The application of minimally invasive techniques to the perform ance of abdominal surgery by general surgeons has been perhaps the greatest advance in the history of general surgery. The safe adoption of many of th ese procedures, however, has been hampered by significant obstacles, mainly due to the problem of providing adequate training for surgeons. Outside of animal and cadaver labs, most training has been didactic in nature, and ad option rates after completion of these courses are discouraging. Multimedia interactive training has been used in a number of high-tech industries wit h great success. A >60% improvement in the learning curve after multimedia interactive training, as compared to traditional didactic training, has bee n reported. Multimedia interactive training programs for surgeons that use content and input from multiple experts in laparoscopic procedures have now been developed. Methods: Residents from a general surgery residency program who used these programs were asked to rate their effectiveness in increasing their knowled ge and comfort level prior to their participation in a real procedure as th e primary surgeon or first assistant. A comparison to other traditional tra ining techniques was also made. Eleven residents completed 41 programs desi gned to teach one of five different laparoscopic procedures-cholecystectomy , fundoplication, appendectomy, colon resection, or hernia repair. Results: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, the residents re ported that the multimedia interactive training programs raised their knowl edge level of the procedure from 6.0 to 8.7 (+2.7 point value increase afte r using the multimedia interactive program). The programs increased their c omfort level when actually called on to perform or assist with the procedur e from 5.3 to 8.1 (+2.8 point value increase after using the multimedia int eractive program). Tn comparing the value of training methods for learning laparoscopic procedures, the residents rated text, lectures, videos, and an imal labs at 4.7, 5.1, 6.0 and 7.3, respectively. By comparison, the reside nts rated the multimedia interactive training program at 8.8. Conclusion: The use of multimedia interactive training programs in addition to current laparoscopic training courses may help to increase the safe ado ption of laparoscopic procedures. These programs may be a beneficial adjunc t to residency training programs.