Can Virtual Reality Be Used to Track Skills Decay During the Research Years?
J Surg Res
; 247: 150-155, 2020 03.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31776024
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Time away from surgical practice can lead to skills decay. Research residents are thought to be prone to skills decay, given their limited experience and reduced exposure to clinical activities during their research training years. This study takes a cross-sectional approach to assess differences in residents' skills at the beginning and end of their research years using virtual reality. We hypothesized that research residents will have measurable decay in psychomotor skills when evaluated using virtual reality.METHODS:
Surgical residents (n = 28) were divided into two groups; the first group was just beginning their research time (clinical residents n = 19) and the second group (research residents n = 9) had just finished at least 2 y of research. All participants were asked to perform a target-tracking task using a haptic device, and their performance was compared using Welch's t-test.RESULTS:
Research residents showed a higher level of "tracking error" (1.69 ± 0.44 cm versus 1.40 ± 0.19 cm; P = 0.04) and a similar level of "path length" (62.5 ± 10.5 cm versus 62.1 ± 5.2 cm; P = 0.92) when compared with clinical residents.CONCLUSIONS:
The increased "tracking error" among residents at the end of their research time suggests fine psychomotor skills decay in residents who spend time away from clinical duties during laboratory time. This decay demonstrates the need for research residents to regularly participate in clinical activities, simulation, or assessments to minimize and monitor skills decay while away from clinical practice. Additional longitudinal studies may help better map learning and decay curves for residents who spend time away from clinical practice.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Desempeño Psicomotor
/
Competencia Clínica
/
Investigación Biomédica
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Entrenamiento Simulado
/
Internado y Residencia
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Surg Res
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article