Individualized Deliberate Practice on a Virtual Reality Simulator

Sponsor
Unity Health Toronto (Other)
Overall Status
Completed
CT.gov ID
NCT01753947
Collaborator
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Other)
16
1
2
36
0.4

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Training on simulated models in a surgical skills laboratory has been shown to improve technical performance in the operating room. Currently described simulation-based curricula consist of trainees practicing the same tasks until expert proficiency is reached. It has yet to be investigated whether individualized deliberate practice, where curricula tasks vary depending on prior levels of technical proficiency, would translate to the operating room.

This randomized controlled trial effectively demonstrates that deliberate practice on a virtual reality simulator results in an improvement in technical skills in a real clinical situation. This enhances the feasibility of implementing simulation-based curricula into residency training programs, and consequently has the potential to improve patient safety.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Other: Deliberate Practice
N/A

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Actual Enrollment :
16 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
Single (Participant)
Official Title:
Individualized Deliberate Practice on a Virtual Reality Simulator Improves Technical Performance of Surgical Novices in the Operating Room: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study Start Date :
Jan 1, 2008
Actual Primary Completion Date :
Jan 1, 2011
Actual Study Completion Date :
Jan 1, 2011

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Deliberate Practice

Residents in the deliberate practice group received individualized feedback at the end of the initial assessment case. The staff surgeon supervising the case completed 3 previously validated technical skills assessment forms.

Other: Deliberate Practice

No Intervention: Conventional Feedback

Residents in the control group received informal feedback as they performed the initial laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the operating room. This was left up to the discretion of the staff surgeon supervising the operation. This corresponds to the routine teaching and feedback practices that occur during conventional surgical residency training

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. Technical skills [6 months]

    Participants' technical skills will be assessed in the operating room as they perform a laparoscopic cholecystectomy under supervision. The procedure will be video-recorded and sent for assessment to a blinded evaluator. Technical skills will be assessed using a previously validated technical skills assessment tool (Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill - OSATS)

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
N/A and Older
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Yes
Inclusion Criteria:
  • post graduate year 1 and 2 surgical residents

  • performed less than 10 laparoscopic cholecystectomies as the primary surgeon

Exclusion Criteria:
  • n/a

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • Unity Health Toronto
  • Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.
Responsible Party:
Unity Health Toronto
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT01753947
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • Deliberate Practice
First Posted:
Dec 20, 2012
Last Update Posted:
Dec 20, 2012
Last Verified:
Dec 1, 2012

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Dec 20, 2012