Robot-assisted surgery as an elective—fascinating lesson(s)?

Abstract

Background: Even though robot-assisted operations have evolved to a standard procedure in surgery, they are underrepresented in the curriculum of current medical students. Objectives: We present our experience and findings in Germany’s first elective “Robot-assisted surgery” at a urological department for undergraduate medical students. Materials and methods: Ten undergraduates in their final years were taught the theoretical basics and practical skills in robot-assisted surgery within six lessons each lasting 2 h, including the opportunity to observe a live robot-assisted surgery. The increase of knowledge (ten multiple-choice questions) and skills (exercises Camera 0, Clutch, and Sea Spikes 1) on a robotic simulation device were quantified including an evaluation of the student’s perspective. Results: The 10 participants had a significant increase in knowledge and gave at a median of 3.5 additional correct answers in the final assessment (p = 0.011). For two out of three practical exercises, the overall score significantly increased (Camera 0 and Sea Spikes 1, for both p < 0.05), but for the exercise “Clutch”, only economy of motion significantly improved (p = 0.028). The elective was evaluated (very) good and the willingness of the participants to become urologists significantly increased (p = 0.007). Conclusion: There is a great interest of many undergraduate medical students in robot-assisted surgery. Offering an elective appears to be an excellent format to teach the theoretical background and practical skills in robotic (urologic) surgery. Moreover, such an elective could raise more attention to the field of urology and might attract future colleagues.