Participation in a surgical simulation review program improves performance in the live animal surgery lab

Abstract

Simulation provides the opportunity for the acquisition and continued practice of surgical skills. Veterinary students need to build a foundation of basic surgical skills before carrying out procedures on live animals. The goal of the study was to determine if participation in a surgical skills simulation program would improve the performance of third year veterinary student’s surgical skills compared to traditional live animal surgery laboratory training. Eighteen third year veterinary students were randomized to either the traditional training or the simulation program. The simulation program was conducted one week prior to the live animal surgery laboratory. The skills practiced included the procedural and technical skills of surgical incision, tissue/instrument handling, simple continuous suturing and knot tying. Each student performance was evaluated with a procedural checklist, global assessment and a combination of both evaluation tools. The performance checklist, global assessment and the combination of both tools were assessed comparing the means with ANOVA and T test with significance of a p value of 0.05. For the procedural checklist statistical significance was found for incisional technique (p<0.10), use of the instruments (p<0.049), suturing procedure (p<0.011) and suture technique (p<0.014). The global assessment analysis found statistical significance for tissue handling (p<0.001), instrument handling (p<0.009), use of an assistant (p<0.044) and the combination of the global assessment and procedural checklist (p<0.008). Participation in the simulation program improved the students’ performance in the live surgery laboratory. The advantages included the opportunity for repetitive and deliberate practice, participatory learning and the immediate correction of errors.