Lessons learned: end-user assessment of a skills laboratory based training programme for urology trainees

Objectives: • To evaluate the benefit of a skills laboratory based training programme to urology resident training by end-user assessment.

Subjects and methods: • All participants in a urological skills workshop programme conducted at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Melbourne, Australia, between 2004 and 2009 were included. • This was a retrospective review using a structured questionnaire. • Topics regarding course organization, content, delivery and relevance to clinical practice were examined. • Free-text entry responses allowed participants to elaborate on specific points as appropriate.

Results: • During the study period, 35 individual workshops were conducted. • In all, 41 of 43 eligible participants completed the survey for a response rate of 95%. • Overall, 26 (63%) found the experience valuable, interesting and useful. • Of the remainder (37%), four (10%) found it interesting but not useful to training, five (12%) found it useful and a good idea but not well conducted, and two (5%) found it neither interesting nor useful for training. • Workshop success was intimately related to the quality of the simulator or model used: highly rated workshops consistently used models that were 'realistic' and 'life-like', while poorly rated workshops were associated with models considered 'impossible' and 'not tested'.

Conclusions: • The use of skills laboratory based workshops can enhance the surgical training of urology residents, at least as assessed by the end-users themselves. • However, closer attention to the selection and use of properly tested and validated models may maximize the educational opportunity. • Translational research prospectively examining the impact of workshops on live patient surgery and outcomes is still required.