Fellow perceptions of robotic surgery preparedness for fellowship

Surg Endosc. 2024 Nov;38(11):6671-6677. doi: 10.1007/s00464-024-11272-1. Epub 2024 Sep 25.

Abstract

Introduction: Many surgical fellowship programs incorporate robotic surgery, yet not all residency programs offer robotic training for residents. Given the variability of pre-fellowship robotic exposure, the goal of this study was to explore whether standardized robotic skills assessment would be useful to fellows at the start of their training.

Methods: In partnership with the Fellowship Council, we surveyed current fellows of accredited Thoracic, Colorectal, HPB, and Advanced GI/MIS/Bariatrics/Foregut Fellowship programs. Main outcome measurements included amount of robotic exposure during residency, fellows' robotic skills at the start of fellowship, and fellows' attitudes towards a standardized skills assessment.

Results: In total, 78 fellows completed the survey. Mean percentage of cases performed robotically during fellowship was 38.1% (SD ± 32.25%). From our respondents, 46% had no robotic curriculum during residency and 86.9% felt a standardized robotic curriculum during residency would have been beneficial. When asked if they started fellowship with adequate robotic skills to operate autonomously, 31% strongly agreed, but 24.4% strongly disagreed. The majority of fellows reported their fellowship program did not conduct an assessment of their robotic skills (71.5%), or provide a specific robotic curriculum (75.6%). On the other hand, 73.3% felt a formal proficiency assessment at the start of fellowship would be helpful for individualized support and training.

Conclusions: Given the significant variability in resident exposure to robotic surgery, a standardized robotic curriculum during residency would likely be beneficial. Additionally, a robotic skills assessment at the start of fellowship could help provide a tailored training experience for fellows interested in this skillset.

Keywords: Fellowship; General surgery residency; Robotic surgery; Robotic surgery curriculum; Skills assessment.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • Clinical Competence*
  • Curriculum*
  • Education, Medical, Graduate / methods
  • Fellowships and Scholarships*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Internship and Residency
  • Male
  • Robotic Surgical Procedures* / education
  • Surveys and Questionnaires