Research: How Virtual Reality Can Help Train Surgeons

"Advancements in medical devices and surgical techniques hold promise for saving and improving lives. But our current system of training and assessing surgeons has lagged behind the pace of innovation — leaving some doctors unprepared to perform complex surgeries and putting some patients at risk. Using virtual reality technology in training may play an important role in addressing these deficiencies and improving skills.
While the skills-deficiency problem takes many forms, we see a particular disparity in surgeon preparedness between their residencies and fellowships. This leads us to the questions: Are some residents innately better surgeons? Or do these differences point toward discrepancies in the clinical scenarios and the level of autonomy that each surgeon experienced in training? For example, while one surgeon might have performed dozens of hip arthroscopies during their training, another might have done it once or never at all.
More to the point, how can we deliver the right kind of training in a standardized way? Furthermore, how can we objectively assess whether surgeons can perform proficiently prior to entering independent practice?..." Lire la suite