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Teaching With the GlobalSurgBox: Trainer Perceptions of a Portable Surgical Simulator
By Ornella Masimbi
OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the utility of a low cost, portable surgical simulator (GlobalSurgBox) for surgical teaching and its ability to dismantle barriers faced by trainers when attempting to use surgical simulation. DESIGN: An anonymous survey was administered to surgical trainers who were involved in leading simulation events using the GlobalSurgBox in the past 2 years. The survey was designed to understand current barriers to using simulation as a trainer, and the utility of the GlobalSurgBox in overcoming these barriers. SETTING: Academic medical training centers or conferences in the United States, Rwanda and Kenya. PARTICIPANTS: 10 practicing surgeons, 3 practicing physicians, 11 surgical residents, 15 medical students and 1 anesthesia resident. RESULTS: The top 3 barriers for effective teaching were lack of convenient access to the simulator (50%), lack of trainer time (43%) and cost (28%). After using the GlobalSurgBox, 100% and 98% of respondents felt that it encourages more practice and offers significant advantages over current simulators in their program. About 90%, 88% and 70% of respondents believed that the GlobalSurgBox makes surgical simulation more convenient, affordable, and compatible with trainer time limitations, respectively. 83% of trainers agreed that it is a good replica of the operating room experience, and 85% practicing physicians were more likely to give autonomy to trainees after demonstrating competence on the GlobalSurgBox. CONCLUSION: The GlobalSurgBox mitigates several barriers surgical educators experience when practicing surgical skills with trainees. The convenience of the GlobalSurgBox can help facilitate the development of foundational surgical skills outside of the operating room. © 2024 Association of Program Directors in Surgery
Developing a Surgical Simulation Curriculum for the Rwandan Context
By Ornella Masimbi
Objective: We report on the development and implementation of a surgical simulation curriculum for undergraduate medical students in rural Rwanda. Design: This is a narrative report on the development of scenario and procedure-based content for a junior surgical clerkship simulation curriculum by an interdisciplinary team of simulation specialists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, medical educators, and medical students. Setting: University of Global Health Equity, a new medical school located in Butaro, Rwanda. Participants: Participants in this study consist of simulation and surgical educators, surgeons, anesthesiologists, research fellows and University of Global Health Equity medical students enrolled in the junior surgery clerkship. Results: The simulation training schedule was designed to begin with a 17-session simulation-intensive week, followed by 8 sessions spread over the 11-week clerkship. These sessions combined the use of high-fidelity mannequins with improvised, bench-top surgical simulators like the GlobalSurgBox, and low-cost gelatin-based models to effectively replace resource intensive options. Conclusions: Emphasis on contextualized content generation, low-cost application, and interdisciplinary design of simulation curricula for low-income settings is essential. The impact of this curriculum on students’ knowledge and skill acquisition is being assessed in an ongoing fashion as a substrate for iterative improvement. © 2023 Association of Program Directors in Surgery
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