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| SURVEY
OF RESIDENT TRAINING IN ROBOTIC SURGERY . |
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Harry W. Donias 1, R. L. Karamanoukian
2, Philip L. Glick 3,
Jacob Bergsland 3,4, E. Kabil, G. Czibik
and H. L. Karamanoukian 4,5. |
Department
of Surgery, State University of New York at Buffalo 1,
Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego
2,
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Buffalo
3,
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Center of Less
Invasive Cardiac Surgery and Robotic Heart Surgery at Kaleida
Health at Buffalo General Hospital 4,
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, State University of
New York, Buffalo,USA 5. |
Background:
Significant technological advances over the past decade have allowed
for development of minimally invasive techniques in a variety
of surgical disciplines. Robotics has been recognised as a major
driving force in the advancement of minimally invasive surgery.
However, the extent to which General Surgery residents are being
trained to use robotic technology has never been assessed. The
aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and the
application of robotics in American surgical training programs,
as well as the experience of surgical residents throughout the
country. Study Design: A postal, multiple-choice survey questionnaire
was sent to all program directors (n0261) of accredited General
Surgery training programs in the US. Due to an initial incomplete
response a second mailing to non-responders took place. Responses
were tabulated and analysed. Results: The overall response rate
was 32% (83/261 program directors). A total of 29% of program
directors indicated interest in minimally invasive surgery. 12%
of responders have used robotics in their practice and 63% felt
robotics will play an important role in the future of General
Surgery. Currently, residents from 15% of US training programs
have limited didactic exposure, and residents from the remaining
83% of training programs were identified as having no exposure
to robotic technology by their program directors. Program directors
from 27% of all responding programs identified plans to incorporate
robotics into their training program. 66% stated they had no future
plans on incorporating robotics into training of residents, and
11% stated they were still uncertain. Conclusion: Robotics have
been shown to make standard endoscopic surgical procedures more
efficient and cost-effective, as well as allowing a variety of
surgical procedures that were only possible with conventional
methods to be completed with minimally invasive techniques. This
new technology promises to be a large part of the future of surgery
and as such deserves more attention in the General Surgery training
programs.
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