Antonio Gangemi, MD, FACS, Kevin Shi, BS, Samarth Durgam, MD, Raquel Gonzalez-Heredia, MD, PhD, Luis fernando Gonzalez-cicarelli, MD, Jayant Radhakrishnan, MD, FACS, Pier cristoforo Giulianotti. University of Illinois
Introduction: Manual dexterity represents an important component of a surgical trainee performance. However, the selection of surgical residents currently includes only their academic performance, letters of recommendation, and a formal interview process. This is the first study that assesses fine and gross motor skills in open and virtual reality environments to investigate the correlation between USMLE scores/academic achievements and manual dexterity.
Methods: Twenty-eight applicants to a general surgery residency program and 17 medical students were recruited. Time of completion on the O’Conner tweezer-test, Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT), suturing on skin pad kit and laparoscopic peg transfer were assessed. The percentage scores, automatically generated by the simulator, of 3 robotic exercises (“Ring & Rail”, “Thread the Ring”, “Suture Sponge”) were also recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using the Pearson correlation.
Results: The mean Step 1 and Step 2 scores were 238.2 (211-265) and 244.8 (217-268) respectively. The mean scores of the first year basic science courses were 78.5% (65.5% -92.5%). The mean time for completion of the O’Conner tweezer test, MMDT, and the peg transfer mean were 477.7 seconds, 65.2 seconds and 154.9 seconds respectively. The mean scores for Ring & Rail, Thread the Ring and Suture Sponge were: 67.79%, 52.96 and 52.68%. Performance on any of the tasks correlated with neither USMLE nor academic scores (p >0.05).
Conclusion: Preliminary data suggest that manual dexterity does not correlate with USMLE scores or academic grades. Further data must be gathered to confirm these findings prior to implementing manual skill proficiency screening amongst surgical residency candidates.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 77700
Program Number: P295
Presentation Session: Poster (Non CME)
Presentation Type: Poster
