Training of Future Surgeons in Minimally Invasive Surgery Needs Intensification: A Multicentre Study.
The advent of laparoscopic surgery with its many benefits for both patients and
surgeons have meant that increasingly more operations are now performed laparoscopically. For junior doctors this rise means that a large proportion of the operations they see and the patients they care for post-operatively have had laparoscopic procedures.
One key aspect of the laparoscopic approach is that even relatively simple operations such as appendicectomy cannot be
performed independently. There is always a need for an assistant to operate the camera
and provide an optimal view of the operative site for the surgeon.
In many hospitals, this responsibility is usually that of the junior members of the surgical team. Despite this role being vital for the operation, often the junior doctors drafted into providing this service have very little prior experience.
The consequence of this is increased operating time and substandard views for the operating surgeon due to the junior doctors lack of familiarity with laparoscopic principles. During normal working hours there may be other more experienced trainees available to step in and assist but out of hours, in many hospitals, the only assistant available may be a first-year training doctor.
Surg Res Open J. 2018; 5(1): 1-13. doi: 10.17140/SROJ-5-122
