Robotic Surgery Simulation Takes Flight

Robotic Surgery has been around for over 15 years in most U.S. health care systems. The introduction of computer-assisted robotic surgery has enabled many surgeons of all different specialties to perform minimally invasive procedures on more patients than ever before. But like all new technologies, there have been both good and bad outcomes. The good…

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On the path to proficiency based robotic surgery training

Surgeons across the globe have been trained to perform surgical procedures by the Halstead Method of “See One, Do One, Teach One” since the early 1900’s. This process relies on didactic teaching and observation of skilled surgeons by young learners who then go on to develop and improve their skill on live patients. Despite this…

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Simulation meets machine learning for surgeon assessment

Having now been around and in the field of robotic surgery for over 13 years, we are convinced that robotic surgery, in the right hands, leads to better outcomes for our patients. This is driven by moving some procedures, such as prostatectomy and hysterectomy, from predominantly open procedures to minimally invasive ones. We asked many…

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How Long Should a Trainee Practice on a Robotic Simulator?

This is probably the most frequent question asked when people are trying to understand the impact of investing in a simulator for their robotic surgical program. Of course, there is not one answer to this question as training objectives can vary significantly depending on the trainee’s discipline, level of surgical experience, and standards set by…

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Tips to Take Your Robotics Program to the Next Level

Here are some tips that may help you take your robotics program to the next level: • Encourage your robotics committee to establish minimum credentialing thresholds of simulation performance. • Create accounts for all trainees (i.e., no training under “guest”). This ensures performance can be tracked. • Implement Mimic curriculum to test for innate ability…

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3 Ways Team Training Can Improve Your Robotics Program

In a recent blog about components of a successful robotic surgery simulation program, team Training was listed as one of the important factors. ‘The study, Teaching Surgical Skills – Changes in the Wind, published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Richard Reznick, et al., stated, “Virtual reality has the potential to enhance surgical-team training…

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The Importance of Proficiency in Robotic Surgery and the Training Implications

Over the past few months we have talked frequently about the importance of acquiring proficiency in robotic surgery. Although this may have been evident to many, the term proficient has been based on the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition. This model, developed in the 1980’s, focuses on how students acquire skills through formal instruction and…

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The Impact of Residents (and Training) on Patients

Like any new technology, a lot of focus has been placed on ensuring that new users of robotic surgery are adequately trained. Simulation has had a large part to play with this. As the technology has become more mainstream, training requirements have moved from not only training existing surgeons but to ensuring that residents and…

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Why Surgical Skill Should Matter to Hospitals, Surgeons, and Patients

By: Christopher Simmonds One of the questions I have often pondered is why do patients choose certain procedures and certain surgeons. So I conducted some research which showed that there were three clear factors that influenced patient choice. The first was the surgeon they were initially referred to. In the majority of cases, patients will…

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How Important is Simulation in Medical Training?

by: Christopher Simmonds, VP Business Development & Marketing, Mimic Technologies While Mimic has been actively focused on simulation for robotic surgery over the past 15 years, I thought it would be interesting to see how simulation was valued for medical training, in general. While trawling through the internet I came across a study published by…

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