Focused Instruction Using a Pulsatile Carotid Endarterectomy Model Results in Increased Procedure-Specific Knowledge, Confidence, and Comfort in Post-graduate Trainees
Brian P. Fletcher, MD, Maryellen E. Gusic, MD, William P. Robinson, III, MD
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Objectives
Surgical simulation can be utilized to facilitate the acquisition of vascular surgery skills however, high cost and limited availability limit the use of vascular simulation. We report how instruction using a low-cost, pulsatile, carotid endarterectomy (CEA) benchtop surgical simulation model can be used to enhance learners’ procedure-specific knowledge as well as their comfort and confidence in performing CEA.
Methods
Residents and fellows at a university-based health system completed a pre- and post-intervention assessment of knowledge specific to the performance of CEA. Using a survey, demographic data and information related to the participants’ prior experience with simulation, opinions about the usefulness of simulation as an educational tool, and self-reported confidence and comfort with performing a CEA were collected prior to an instructional session. A single instructor engaged each participant in a forty-five-minute instructional intervention on the performance of CEA using a reproducible simulator with an approximate cost of . Post-intervention, participants were asked to rate the impact of the CEA simulation model on their knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward simulation training using a Likert scale. A Related T-test and Wilcoxin signed Rank Test were for analysis of the data.
Results
Seventeen trainees participated in the simulation. 76% felt that simulation training was either very useful or essential in helping to learn a surgical procedure/skill. A significant difference was observed in the pre- and post- procedure-specific knowledge assessment scores (48% vs 91%, P<0.01). Trainee confidence (0.65 vs 1.88, P<0.01) and comfort (0.59 vs 1.82, P<0.01) also increased significantly. 16 (94%) responded that use of the simulator was extremely or very important to their training. All 17 trainees (100%) reported that the simulation experience was either essential or very useful in helping them learn how to perform a CEA. 65% responded that they were extremely likely to apply the skills they learned during the intervention the next time they performed a CEA.
Conclusions
A low-cost, pulsatile CEA simulation model used as an educational tool increased procedure-specific knowledge, comfort, and confidence among trainees. Learners perceived that the simulator was an essential learning tool and that they were likely to apply the skills learned using the simulator in a clinical environment. Future studies will assess the utility of the benchtop simulator in the assessment of procedural competency.
Back to 2019 ePosters