Eham Arora1, Saurabh Gandhi, MS, FMAS, FIAGES, FBMS, FALS1, Ajay Bhandarwar, MS, FMAS, FIAGES, FBMS, FICS1, Shubham Gupta, MS1, Chintan Patel, MS, DNB, FMAS, FIAGES, FBMS2, Jasmine Agarwal1. 1Grant Government Medical College & Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, India, 2Kiran Multi-Super Specialty Hospital & Research Center, Surat, India
Introduction: Residency programs have undergone a tectonic shift over the past 3 decades to incorporate minimal access approaches as a part of routine training. The influx of new techniques, skill & technologies within the operating room has brought its own set of challenges.
During their training, residents assist & operate with multiple consultants in varying specialties. The lack of a continuous, consistent oversight to evaluate the development of an individual’s skills was noted.
Materials & methods: At our center, we formulated a laparoscopic mentorship program where a senior consultant was paired with a particular trainee resident for a period of 6 weeks. 12 consultants & 12 residents were a part of the study. The OR schedules were rearranged to accommodate these pairs. An evaluation of the residents’ views was performed prior to the study and once at its completion, using a simple questionnaire with each parameter scored between 1 & 10.
Results & Discussion: Continuous, consistent evaluation by a consultant over an extended period of time allowed them to assess their assigned resident’s laparoscopic skill set. All pairs observed an increased frequency of errors being noticed & improved upon. The consultants stressed upon shedding undesirable operative habits.
There was a significant improvement in residents’ scores at the end of the short study.
Conclusion: We found that the short-term mentorship program was easy to incorporate within our OR schedule and was well received by the participants. Continuous short rotations under senior consultants appear to allow residents to not only fully observe and imbibe correct operative techniques, but also helps shed unfavorable habits. We are currently amid the second cycle of our study & looking forward to the results at the end of this academic year.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 87273
Program Number: P316
Presentation Session: iPoster Session (Non CME)
Presentation Type: Poster