E-Posters-10107

10107_Ackenbom

Pdf Summary

A study was conducted to identify teaching techniques used during the retropubic midurethral sling (MUS) surgery, specifically focusing on steps with high cognitive load. The study aimed to understand how expert attendings help novice surgeons learn the procedure.<br /><br />The study used cognitive task analysis (CTA) to examine the teaching techniques employed by attendings during the surgery. Techniques such as modeling, verbal cueing, physical cueing, hands-on-hands guidance, demonstration outside of the body, and drawings were identified.<br /><br />It was observed that techniques like modeling, hands-on-hands guidance, and demonstration outside of the body were used more frequently for steps with higher cognitive load compared to steps with lower load. This indicates that these techniques are targeted towards reducing cognitive load and improving intraoperative learning for novice surgeons.<br /><br />The study also found that verbal cueing was used by all attendings throughout the surgical cases. Physical cueing, verbal cueing, and demonstration outside of the body were consistently used for the retropubic trocar pass step. Physical cueing, verbal cueing, and modeling were commonly used for the paraurethral dissection step. The hands-on-hands technique was found to be very helpful by trainee surgeons when learning surgery intraoperatively.<br /><br />The study suggests that these findings are significant in light of residency duty hour work restrictions, as efforts are being made to improve the quality of surgical training for residents. The results align with the cognitive load theory, which states that working memory is limited, and increased task complexity can hinder learning.<br /><br />In conclusion, this study identified various teaching techniques used during the retropubic MUS surgery. The findings suggest that these techniques are specifically aimed at reducing cognitive load and enhancing intraoperative learning for novice surgeons.

Keywords

retropubic midurethral sling surgery

teaching techniques

cognitive load

expert attendings

novice surgeons

cognitive task analysis

intraoperative learning

residency duty hour

surgical training

task complexity