TY - JOUR

T1 - Comparing the impact of surgical expert versus non-ophthalmologist instructors on virtual-reality surgical performance

T2 - A randomized controlled trial

AU - Boberg-Ans, Lars Christian

AU - Hutter, Daniel Ethan

AU - La Cour, Morten

AU - Konge, Lars

AU - Le, Anton

AU - Vangsted, Andreas

AU - Thomsen, Ann Sofia Skou

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Acta Ophthalmologica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Purpose: To compare Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS) microsurgical performance in course participants who received virtual reality simulation-based training by either a surgical expert or a non-ophthalmologist instructor. Setting: Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation, Copenhagen, Denmark. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Residents and specialists in ophthalmology with no prior MSICS experience were included to receive virtual reality simulation training in MSICS using the HelpMeSee simulator. The participants were randomly allocated to receive training from either an experienced MSICS surgeon or a non-ophthalmologist, also known as near-peer teaching. The performances of the participants were evaluated at baseline and post-training using a MSICS proficiency-based test with evidence of validity. Results: Thirty participants were included in the study and 29 completed the course. There was no significant difference in final test score between the two groups (p = 0.13). The performance score of both groups of participants increased significantly after receiving the training (p < 0.001). All participants passed the proficiency-based test after receiving the training. Conclusion: We found no significant difference in surgical proficiency-level whether the participants were trained by a surgical expert or a non-ophthalmologist instructor for MSICS in a virtual-reality based setting. The findings of this study suggest that near-peer teaching within microsurgical performance potentially could be applied with teaching outcomes comparable to a surgical expert-instructor.

AB - Purpose: To compare Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS) microsurgical performance in course participants who received virtual reality simulation-based training by either a surgical expert or a non-ophthalmologist instructor. Setting: Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation, Copenhagen, Denmark. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Residents and specialists in ophthalmology with no prior MSICS experience were included to receive virtual reality simulation training in MSICS using the HelpMeSee simulator. The participants were randomly allocated to receive training from either an experienced MSICS surgeon or a non-ophthalmologist, also known as near-peer teaching. The performances of the participants were evaluated at baseline and post-training using a MSICS proficiency-based test with evidence of validity. Results: Thirty participants were included in the study and 29 completed the course. There was no significant difference in final test score between the two groups (p = 0.13). The performance score of both groups of participants increased significantly after receiving the training (p < 0.001). All participants passed the proficiency-based test after receiving the training. Conclusion: We found no significant difference in surgical proficiency-level whether the participants were trained by a surgical expert or a non-ophthalmologist instructor for MSICS in a virtual-reality based setting. The findings of this study suggest that near-peer teaching within microsurgical performance potentially could be applied with teaching outcomes comparable to a surgical expert-instructor.

KW - blindness

KW - cataract

KW - HelpMeSee

KW - MSICS

KW - near-peer teaching

KW - simulation

KW - simulation-based training

U2 - 10.1111/aos.16719

DO - 10.1111/aos.16719

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38819012

AN - SCOPUS:85194887540

JO - Acta Ophthalmologica

JF - Acta Ophthalmologica

SN - 1755-375X

ER -