THE EUROPEAN BASIC ARTHROSCOPY COURSE

The topic Arthroscopy is an area within orthopedics that just keeps growing and is getting more and more sophisticated.

It requires lots of time and training to learn and improve on the arthroscopic skills. It is therefore important to teach and learn orthopedic trainees this arthroscopic technique in an early stage during their orthopedic residency training. This is easier said than done. In most cases the trainees learn the principles of this technique while present in the OR. It takes a long time to master this technique.

Why simulation training in arthroscopy?
As there is a high demand for productivity of the Orthopedic surgeons it can be hard to find the time to educate the new generation of Orthopedic Surgeons. Furthermore patient safety must be considered. Thus it is critical to consider alternative methods of raising the standard of education on arthroscopic skills.The most important skills necessary to perform arthroscopic surgery such as hand-eye coordination, triangulation and the ability to work in 3 dimensions while watching a 2-dimensional screen are skills that can be trained using a simulation exercise.This can lead to improved accuracy, reduced number of errors, reduced number of unnecessary movements and reduced operation time.

As you know simulation is used in a lot of other areas, in games, in the military, aviation, etc. It is strange that we are not using this possibility more in our specific arthroscopic field and especially in training of the specific skills which are required to perform a successful arthroscopy.