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Original Articles

Endourological simulator performance in female but not male medical students predicts written examination results in basic surgery

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Pages 38-42 | Received 17 Feb 2012, Accepted 05 May 2012, Published online: 02 Jul 2012
 

Abstract

Objective. The objective of this study was to examine the correlation between endourological simulator performance and demonstrated theoretical knowledge in the basic surgical sciences. Material and methods. In total, 158 fourth year medical students participated in the study, 83 females and 75 males, all surgical novices. All students performed the flexible endoscopic task Hall of Fame in the urological simulator URO Mentor. Later during the same semester all students took the final theoretical examination in surgery. Results. In female medical students a significant correlation was found between surgical simulator performance and the examination results (r = –0.22, p = 0.04). There was no statistically significant correlation when looking at the total study population (r = –0.04, p = 0.58) or when looking at male medical students (r = 0.01, p = 0.9). Conclusion. Female medical students completing an endourological simulator task more efficiently passed the theoretical examination in the basic surgical sciences with significantly higher scores than females with low efficiency in the urological simulator. There are likely to be several explanations for this correlation, such as motivation and a lower amount of current video gaming experience.

Acknowledgements

This study was fully supported by unrestricted research grants from Karolinska Institutet.

Declaration of interest: Drs Schlickum, Felländer-Tsai, Hedman and Henningsohn have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.