Video-Based Surgical Learning: Improving Trainee Education and Preparation for Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Since the end of the XIX century, teaching of surgery has remained practically unaltered until now. With the dawn of video-assisted laparoscopy, surgery has faced new technical and learning challenges. Due to technological advances, from Internet access to portable electronic devices, the use of online resources is part of the educational armamentarium. In this respect, videos have already proven to be effective and useful, however the best way to benefit from these tools is still not clearly defined.

AIMS: To assess the importance of video-based learning, using an electronic questionnaire applied to residents and specialists of different surgical fields.

METHODS: Importance of video-based learning was assessed in a sample of 141 subjects, using a questionnaire distributed by a GoogleDoc online form.

RESULTS: We found that 98.6% of the respondents have already used videos to prepare for surgery. When comparing video sources by formation status, residents were found to use Youtube significantly more often than specialists (p < 0.001). Additionally, residents placed more value on didactic illustrations and procedure narration than specialists (p < 0.001). On the other hand, specialists prized surgeon's technical skill and the presence of tips and tricks much more than residents (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Video-based learning is currently a hallmark of surgical preparation among residents and specialists working in Portugal. Based on these findings we believe that the creation of quality and scientifically accurate videos, and subsequent compilation in available video-libraries appears to be the future landscape for video-based learning.