Robotic simulation experience in undergraduate medical education: a perspective
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Robotic simulation experience in undergraduate medical education: a perspective Rishi Naik1 · Indrajeet Mandal2 Received: 30 September 2019 / Accepted: 21 February 2020 © Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Robotic surgery has been one of the most revolutionary advancements in surgery, and demand is anticipated to grow. The performance of robotic surgery has seen an exponential increase in recent years. This is largely due to the benefits offered by robotics, including shorter hospital stays and recovery times, improved visualisation, and fewer postoperative complications. However, due to its expense, only a few specialist centres in the UK offer these techniques, making exposure amongst medical students limited. As final-year medical students, our exposure to simulated robotic surgery gave us a greater appreciation of the associated challenges, such as depth perception, a lack of haptic feedback, and movement economy. Compared to other techniques, robotic simulators provide a greater range of performance measures, allowing one to better adapt to the learning curve. We believe that increasing the exposure of medical students to robotics will be beneficial, allowing future doctors to better inform patients and inspire the next generation of robotic surgeons. Keywords Robotic surgery · Simulation · Education · Medical students Robotic surgery promises to be one of the most revolutionary advancements in the field of surgery. Use of robots for performing surgery is projected to increase in the next few years as robots become smaller and more capable [1]. Uptake of robotic surgery within different surgical specialties varies by country. For example, in Europe, robotic procedures are most commonly performed in urology, whereas in USA, gynaecology and general surgery are more popular [2]. In addition, these techniques are now being adopted into other fields such as ENT and thoracic surgery. Robotic surgery promises shorter hospital stays, faster recovery times, improved visualisation, fewer postoperative complications, and cosmetic benefits. Despite the many benefits offered by robotic surgery, its use is not universal. As with many other revolutionary technologies, it comes with an associated financial burden, with the contemporary Da Vinci robot system costing approximately £1.55 million, with an instrument cost of £2000 per * Rishi Naik [email protected] 1
St Mary’s Hospital, Isle of Wight NHS Trust, Wessex Foundation School, Newport PO30 5TG, UK
John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, UK
2
case [3]. This has meant that robotic consoles are not yet widely available across hospitals in the UK, limiting these techniques to specialist centres. For this reason, exposure of UK medical students to robotic surgery remains poor [4], and is often dependent on chance placement at a specialist hospital. Indeed, many students will go through their surgical placements with zero exposure to robotic surgery. At centres where robotic
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