Modeling surgical expertise for motor skill acquisition

BACKGROUND: This work is part of an ongoing effort to introduce an innovative medical teaching technique to assist the efficient acquisition of surgical hand skills required to perform an inguinal hernia repair with a McVay technique. The purpose was to determine the effect of expert cognitive modeling, auditory elaboration, and split-screen video analysis on the surgical hand movements required while performing inguinal hernia surgery on cadavers. PURPOSE: SIX surgical residents were videotaped performing a McVay procedure inguinal hernia in a pretest-posttest control group design. The experimental group received expert cognitive modeling, auditory elaboration, and split-screen analysis after the pretest. RESULTS: A distinct advantage for surgical instrument control and manipulation was found for the experimental group on the posttest surgeries. Less time was required to perform the operation, and more purposeful movements were exhibited by the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The treatment condition favored mindfulness learning of the McVay technique for an inguinal hernia repair. Am J Surg. 1999;177: 331-336. (C) 1999 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.