Abstract
Objective: Currently, robotic training for inexperienced practicing surgeons is primarily done vis-à-vis industry and/or society-sponsored day or weekend courses, with limited proctorship opportunities. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of an extended-proctorship program at up to 32 months of follow-up. Methods: An extended-proctorship program for roboticassisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy was established at our institution. The curriculum consisted of 3 phases: (1) completing an Intuitive Surgical 2-day robotic training course with company representatives; (2) serving as assistant to a trained proctor on 5 to 6 cases; and (3 performing proctored cases up to 1 year until confidence was achieved. Participants were surveyed and asked to evaluate on a 5-point Likert scale their operative experience in robotics and satisfaction regarding their training Results: Nine of 9 participants are currently performing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP independently. Graduates of our program have performed 477 RALP cases. The mean number of cases performed within phase 3 was 20.1 (range, 5 to 40) prior to independent practice. The program received a rating of 4.2/5 for effectiveness in teaching robotic surgery skills. Conclusion: Our robotic program, with extended proctoring has led to an outstanding take-rate for disseminating robotic skills in a metropolitan community.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 287-292 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| State | Published - Oct 29 2009 |
Keywords
- Extended-proctoring education
- Prostatectomy
- Robotics