Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)

Needle placement interventions have become the standard of care in many diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, such as biopsies, aspiration or tissue ablations. Needle-based surgery has numerous advantages over open surgery but it is a delicate process where precise translation, rotation motions, bending and insertion forces all effect the outcome. The means for desired maneuvering of the surgical device are extremely limited. Unlike conventional surgery, the surgeon does not have direct visual feedback inside the body. There are challenges to overcome in learning needle placement interventions and in performing them on patients. Trainees have traditionally learned needle interventions in an apprenticeship model. In addition to exposing patients to risk during the learning curve, this model tends to be slow and inherently subjective. It lacks objective, quantitative assessment of surgical skill and performance. We propose to develop Perk Tutor, a computer-assisted training system in a simulated clinical environment with anthropomorphic models and real instruments. Trainee performance will be quantified and optimal learning scenarios provided for skill acquisition and retention. We will prove that Perk Tutor can effectively prepare novice learners for clinical encounters with patients. This approach to teaching and learning is consistent with competency-based medical education (CBME) which emphasizes learner-centred abilities rather than time spent learning. The Perk Tutor will generate knowledge for the first known implementation of a competency-based curriculum in needle placement interventions. The investigators, knowledge users and collaborators will provide interdisciplinary training for two graduate students and two postdoctoral fellows. Medical residents?