Comparing proficiency of obstetrics and gynaecology trainees with general surgery trainees using simulated laparoscopic tasks in Health Education England, North-West: a prospective observational study

Khan, ZN, Shrestha, D, Shugaba, A, Lambert, JE, Clark, J, Haslett, E, Afors, K, Bampouras, TM ORCID: 0000-0002-8991-4655, Gaffney, CJ and Subar, DA (2023) Comparing proficiency of obstetrics and gynaecology trainees with general surgery trainees using simulated laparoscopic tasks in Health Education England, North-West: a prospective observational study. BMJ Open, 13.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Training programmes for obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) and general surgery (GS) vary significantly, but both require proficiency in laparoscopic skills. We sought to determine performance in each specialty. DESIGN: Prospective, Observational study. SETTING: Health Education England North-West, UK. PARTICIPANTS: 47 surgical trainees (24 O&G and 23 GS) were sub-divided into four groups: 11 junior O&G, 13 senior O&G, 11 junior GS, and 12 senior GS trainees. OBJECTIVES: Trainees were tested on four simulated laparoscopic tasks; laparoscopic camera navigation (LCN), hand eye co-ordination (HEC), bimanual co-ordination (BMC) and suturing with intracorporeal knot tying (suturing). RESULTS: O&G trainees completed LCN (P <0.001), HEC (P <0.001) and BMC (P <0.001) significantly slower than GS trainees. Furthermore, O&G found fewer number of targets in LCN (P =0.001) and dropped a greater number of pins than the GS trainees in BMC (P =0.04). In all three tasks, there were significant differences between O&G and GS trainees but no difference between the juniors and senior groups within each specialty. Performance in suturing also varied by specialty; senior O&G trainees scored significantly lower than senior GS trainees; O&G 11.4 ± 4.4 vs GS 16.8 ± 2.1, P = 0.03. Whilst suturing scores improved with seniority among O&G trainees, there was no difference between the junior and senior GS trainees; senior O&G 11.4 ± 4.4 vs junior O&G 3.6 ± 2.1, P = 0.004. DISCUSSION: GS trainees performed better than O&G trainees in core laparoscopic skills and the structure of obstetrics and gynaecology training may require modification.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1103 Clinical Sciences; 1117 Public Health and Health Services; 1199 Other Medical and Health Sciences
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RD Surgery R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	BMJ Publishing Group
Date of acceptance:	23 October 2023
Date of first compliant Open Access:	24 October 2023
Date Deposited:	24 Oct 2023 14:41
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2025 16:15
DOI or ID number:	10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075113
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/21745

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