Are surgery training programs ready for virtual reality? A survey of program directors in general surgery

BACKGROUND: The use of advanced technology, such as virtual environments an d Computer-based simulators (VR/CBS), in training has been well established by both industry and the military. In contrast the medical profession, inc luding surgery, has been slow to incorporate such technology in its trainin g. In an attempt to identify factors limiting the regular incorporation of this technology into surgical training programs, a survey was developed and distributed to all general surgery program directors in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: A 22-question survey was sent to 254 general surgery program directors. The survey was designed to reflect attitudes of the program dire ctors regarding the use of computer-based simulation in surgical training. Questions were scaled from 1 to 5 with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strong ly agree. RESULTS: A total of 139 responses (55%) were returned. The majority of resp ondents (58%) had seen VR/CBS, but only 19% had "hands-on" experience with these systems. Respondents strongly agreed that there is a need for learnin g opportunities outside of the operating room and a role for VR/CBS in surg ical training. Respondents believed both staff and residents would support this type of training. Concerns included VR/CBS' lack of validation and pot ential requirements. for frequent system upgrades. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual environments and computer-based simulators, although w ell established training tools in other fields, have not been widely incorp orated into surgical education. Our results suggest that program directors believe this type of technology would be beneficial in surgical education, but they lack adequate information regarding VR/CBS. Developers of this tec hnology may need to focus on educating potential users and addressing their concerns.