Development of laparoscopic skills in skills-naïve trainees using self-directed learning with take-home laparoscopic trainer boxes

Background: To determine if take home laparoscopic trainer boxes with only self-directed learning can develop laparoscopic skills in surgically naive learners.

Methods: 74 starting PGY1 OB/Gyn residents and OB/Gyn clerkship medical students volunteered for the study. Learners performed a laparoscopic peg transfer task with only task instructions and no additional training. Initial tasks were recorded and scored. The participants took home a laparoscopic trainer box for 3 weeks to practice without guidance and returned to perform the same task for a second/final score. Initial and final scores were compared for improvement. This improvement was compared to practice and variables such as demographics, surgical interest, comfort with laparoscopy, and past experiences.

Results: Mean peg transfer task scores improved from 287 (SD = 136) seconds to 193 (SD = 79) seconds (p < 0.001). Score improvement showed a positive correlation with number of home practice sessions with a linear regression R² of 0.134 (p = 0.001). More practice resulted in larger increases in comfort levels, and higher comfort levels correlated with better final task scores with a linear regression R² of 0.152 (p < 0.001). Interest in a surgical specialty had no impact on final scores or improvement. Playing a musical instrument and having two or more dexterity-based hobbies was associated with a better baseline score (p = 0.032 and p = 0.033 respectively), but no difference in the final scores or score improvement. No other past experiences impacted scores.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the use of home laparoscopic box trainers can develop laparoscopic skills in surgical novices even without formal guidance or curriculum.