Computer-Based Simulation Training in Surgery

Computer-based simulation training methods have emerged in mainstream residency training in response to evolving educational demands. These methods include surgical virtual reality (VR), computer driven full patient simulation, and screen-based simulations, of which immersive virtual environments reflect the most recent area of development. Over a single decade, surgical VR has progressed from demonstration of concept to a practical training tool, with a body of validation literature for part-task VR trainers that supports their expanded use, as well as the development of more robust and capable systems to satisfy the need for procedural training. Patient simulation is gradually entering surgical residency training for crisis resource management and team training that might not otherwise be feasible outside clinical settings. In the future, simulation of patient care in virtual environments may constitute a similar experience without the resource demands associated with full patient simulation. Collectively, the use of computers to create simulated learning experiences for surgeons is representative of an experiential learning model that has been far more developed in other undertakings, but which will certainly be more relied on in surgical training in the future.