Publication:

Affordable laparoscopic simulator to acquire basic skills in undergraduate surgery students

Background The simulation emerges as an option that allows students to practice in a safe environment, all this in a scenario that resembles the real situation.

Methods We developed a prototype of a low-cost simulator that mimics the dimensions of the abdominal cavity and allows the undergraduate students to acquire the basic skills in minimally invasive surgery.

Results In the 10 competencies evaluated, statistically significant improvement was found in both groups being higher in the students who were trained by our simulator of laparoscopic surgery compared with students who attended surgeries and participated as seconds assistants, taking as reference a value of p ≤0.05.

Conclusions The simulation as new teaching strategy generates a real environment and scenarios that can be recreated in multiple occasions, being able to change depending on the objectives for the acquisition of skills. This simulator gives the user skills for more types of simulation as it progresses in its surgical training.