Feasibility and Benefit of Incorporating a Multimedia Cadaver Laboratory Training Program into a Didactics Curriculum for Junior and Senior Surgical Residents.

OBJECTIVE: As operative experience in general surgery decreases and work hour limitations increase there is less exposure of surgical residents to advanced vascular and trauma exposures. Many institutions have demonstrated benefits of cadaver laboratory courses. We have incorporated a multimedia cadaver laboratory course into our general surgery residency didactics curriculum with the objective to demonstrate a benefit of the program as well as the feasibility of incorporation. STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective study at a tertiary care institution including general surgery residents within our residency program. A curriculum was designed, requiring residents to complete multimedia learning modules before both a trauma cadaver laboratory and vascular exposure cadaver laboratory. Outcome measures included self-efficacy/confidence (precourse and postcourse 5-point Likert surveys), knowledge (net performance on precourse and postcourse multiple choice examinations), and resident perception of the curriculum (postcourse 5-point Likert survey). Data were analyzed using ANOVA paired t-tests. RESULTS: For the vascular cadaver laboratory, resident knowledge improved overall from an average of 41.2% to 50.0% of questions correct (p = 0.032) and self-efficacy/confidence improved by 0.59 from 1.52 to 2.11 out of 5 (p = 0.009). Median confidence is 1.37 out of 5 and 2.32 out of 5, before and after course, respectively. Wilcoxon nonparametric test reveals a p = 0.011. Resident's perception of the usefulness of the laboratory evaluation was 3.85 out 5. There were 85.71% agreed that the laboratory is useful and 14.29% were disagree. The Z-score is -0.1579 (means 0.1579 standard deviations a score of 3.85 below the benchmark). The percentile rank is 56.27%. The coefficient of variation is 24.68%. For the trauma cadaver laboratory, resident knowledge improved overall from an average of 55.89% to 66.17% of questions correct (p = 0.001) and self-efficacy/confidence improved by 0.75 from 1.68 out of 5 to 2.43 out of 5 (p = 0.011). Median confidence level is 1.41 out of 5 before the training course and 2.64 out of 5 after the training course. Wilcoxon signed rank test gives a p value of 0.008. Resident's perception of the usefulness of the laboratory evaluation was 3.94 out 5. There were 72.22% agreed that the laboratory is useful and 27.78% were neutral. The Z-score is -0.098 (means 0.098 standard deviations a score of 3.94 below the benchmark). The percentile rank is 53.90%. The coefficient of variation is 15.48%. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating a multimedia cadaver laboratory into a residency education didactics curriculum was both feasible and beneficial for resident education. We demonstrate an improvement in knowledge and self efficacy/confidence following both cadaver laboratory courses.