M Shah1, A Aydin1, A Moran2, M S Khan3, P Dasgupta3, K Ahmed4. 1. MRC Centre for Transplantation, King's College London, Londres, Reino Unido. 2. School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublín, Irlanda. 3. MRC Centre for Transplantation, King's College London, Londres, Reino Unido; Department of Urology, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Londres, Reino Unido. 4. MRC Centre for Transplantation, King's College London, Londres, Reino Unido; Department of Urology, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Londres, Reino Unido. Electronic address: kamran.ahmed@kcl.ac.uk.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Cognitive training is an important training modality which allows the user to rehearse a procedure without physically carrying it out. This has led to recent interests to incorporate cognitive training within surgical education but research is currently limited. The use of cognitive training in surgery is not clear-cut and so this study aimed to determine whether, relative to a control condition, the use of cognitive training improves technical surgical skills on a ureteroscopy simulator, and if so whether one cognitive training method is superior. METHODS: This prospective, comparative study recruited 59 medical students and randomised them to one of three groups: control- simulation training only (n=20), flashcards cognitive training group (n=20) or mental imagery cognitive training group (n=19). All participants completed three tasks at baseline on the URO Mentor simulator followed by the cognitive intervention if randomised to receive it. Participants then returned to perform an assessment task on the simulator. Outcome measures from the URO Mentor performance report was used for analysis and a quantitative survey was given to all participants to assess usefulness of training received. RESULTS: This study showed cognitive training to have minimal effects on technical skills of participants. The mental imagery group had fewer laser misfires in the assessment task when compared to both control and flashcards group (P=.017, P=.036, respectively). The flashcards group rated their preparation to be most useful when compared to control (P=.0125). Other parameters analysed between the groups did not reach statistical significance. Cognitive training was found to be feasible and cost effective when carried out in addition to simulation training. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the role of cognitive training within acquisition of surgical skills is minimal and that no form of cognitive training was superior to another. Further research needs to be done to evaluate other ways of performing cognitive training.
INTRODUCTION: Cognitive training is an important training modality which allows the user to rehearse a procedure without physically carrying it out. This has led to recent interests to incorporate cognitive training within surgical education but research is currently limited. The use of cognitive training in surgery is not clear-cut and so this study aimed to determine whether, relative to a control condition, the use of cognitive training improves technical surgical skills on a ureteroscopy simulator, and if so whether one cognitive training method is superior. METHODS: This prospective, comparative study recruited 59 medical students and randomised them to one of three groups: control- simulation training only (n=20), flashcards cognitive training group (n=20) or mental imagery cognitive training group (n=19). All participants completed three tasks at baseline on the URO Mentor simulator followed by the cognitive intervention if randomised to receive it. Participants then returned to perform an assessment task on the simulator. Outcome measures from the URO Mentor performance report was used for analysis and a quantitative survey was given to all participants to assess usefulness of training received. RESULTS: This study showed cognitive training to have minimal effects on technical skills of participants. The mental imagery group had fewer laser misfires in the assessment task when compared to both control and flashcards group (P=.017, P=.036, respectively). The flashcards group rated their preparation to be most useful when compared to control (P=.0125). Other parameters analysed between the groups did not reach statistical significance. Cognitive training was found to be feasible and cost effective when carried out in addition to simulation training. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the role of cognitive training within acquisition of surgical skills is minimal and that no form of cognitive training was superior to another. Further research needs to be done to evaluate other ways of performing cognitive training.
Authors: Gian Maria Busetto; Francesco Del Giudice; Andrea Mari; Isabella Sperduti; Nicola Longo; Alessandro Antonelli; Maria Angela Cerruto; Elisabetta Costantini; Marco Carini; Andrea Minervini; Bernardo Rocco; Walter Artibani; Angelo Porreca; Francesco Porpiglia; Rocco Damiano; Marco De Sio; Davide Arcaniolo; Sebastiano Cimino; Giorgio Ivan Russo; Giuseppe Lucarelli; Pasquale Di Tonno; Paolo Gontero; Francesco Soria; Carlo Trombetta; Giovanni Liguori; Roberto Mario Scarpa; Rocco Papalia; Carlo Terrone; Marco Borghesi; Paolo Verze; Massimo Madonia; Antonello De Lisa; Pierluigi Bove; Giorgio Guazzoni; Giovanni Lughezzani; Marco Racioppi; Luca Di Gianfrancesco; Eugenio Brunocilla; Riccardo Schiavina; Claudio Simeone; Alessandro Veccia; Francesco Montorsi; Alberto Briganti; Fabrizio Dal Moro; Carlo Pavone; Vincenzo Serretta; Savino Mauro Di Stasi; Andrea Benedetto Galosi; Luigi Schips; Michele Marchioni; Emanuele Montanari; Giuseppe Carrieri; Luigi Cormio; Francesco Greco; Gennaro Musi; Martina Maggi; Simon L Conti; Andrea Tubaro; Ettore De Berardinis; Alessandro Sciarra; Michele Gallucci; Vincenzo Mirone; Ottavio de Cobelli; Matteo Ferro Journal: Front Surg Date: 2020-11-24