Residency Training in Robotic General Surgery: A Survey of Program Directors

Table 3

Comparison of current robotic surgery training to program director beliefs.

Question	Current practice	PG opinion
Is there/should there be a formal clinical curriculum for robotic surgery training of general surgery residents at your institution? ()	Yes (73.68%); No (26.32%)	Yes (63.16%); No (36.84%)
At which postgraduate year (PGY) level, do/should your residents first have exposure to robotic surgery? (, 20, resp.)	PGY1 (42.11%); PGY2 (10.53%); PGY3 (31.58%); PGY4 (10.53%); PGY5 (5.26%)	PGY1 (55%); PGY2 (15%); PGY3 (30%); PGY4 (0%); PGY5 (0%)
What is your program’s current/the best method to deliver robotic surgery training during residency? (, 20, resp.)	Conference/didactic session (0%); Teaching labs/simulation (10.53%); Operating room experience (5.26%); Combination of the above (84.21%)	Conference/didactic session (0%); Teaching labs/simulation (30%); Operating room experience (0%); Combination of the above (70%
Does/should your program collaborate with industry to provide robotic surgery training to residents? (, 19, resp.)	Yes (80%); No (20%)	Yes (63.16%); No (36.84%)
Do/should all graduating chief residents in your program achieve competency in this operation prior to graduation? ()	Yes (30%); No (70%)	Yes (35%); No (65%)
If not currently a competency, is resident achievement of competency based on resident’s interest in robotic surgery? ()	Yes (78.57%); No (21.43%)

selecting “combination of the above,” respondents were requested to further elaborate. The responses included () all 3 listed above (75%), computer based training, followed by simulation, followed by beside assist, finally console (8.33%), and simulation modulates then OR (16.67%).