Overcoming Complications Through Pre-patient Surgical Training in Otolaryngology.

Planning a balanced academic and practical surgical curriculum that is parallel to the constant innovations in surgical fields is the cornerstone of surgical education. Current training methods have coinciding benefits and drawbacks. In this study, we compare the efficacy of two learning models: pre-patient training outside the operating room versus step-by-step training on real patients in the operating room. Facial nerve preservation in superficial parotidectomy is the surgical model used in the study. Five otolaryngology residents in the third year of their residency participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: a treatment group which underwent a pre-patient training program by cadaver dissection and a control group which followed a step-by-step training model. At the end of the study, significant differences were apparent between two groups in the ability to find facial nerve trunk, microdissection of facial nerve branches, and the mean duration of total operating time. Pre-patient training programs outside the operating room provide surgical residents the opportunity to learn by trial and error without fear of complications.