Development of a Sustainable Simulator and Simulation Program for Laparoscopic Skills Training in Haiti

Abstract

Laparoscopic surgery has been shown to have many favorable effects on surgical outcomes and postoperative recovery times. However, the cost of currently available training programs, such as the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS), limits their adoption in developing countries. To address this cost constraint, educators at the Justinian University Hospital (JUH) in Northern Haiti used local materials to build their own laparoscopic skills box trainer. This trainer is used to teach all surgical and OB/GYN residents in their laparoscopic skills program. The progressive curriculum consists of seven modules, three of which are for all trainees and four of which are specifically for surgery and OB/GYN (2). The seven modules are arranged in the order of difficulty; they start with basic maneuvers and progress to complex skills. This report describes both the preparation of the seven models and evaluation of the skills that are learned. This approach may facilitate global access to feasible, progressive, and sustainable laparoscopic training.

Development and Validation of a Homemade, Low-Cost Laparoscopic Simulator for Resident Surgeons (LABOT)

“…Some studies have evaluted the positive impact on the learning surgical curve of laparoscopic trainers in developing countries, where it is difficult to obtain expensive instruments and innovative materials [36][37][38]. Thanks to the low cost and accessibility of materials, LABOT could represent a suitable solution in these countries.…”

Collaborative Development of a Simulation-augmented Health Education Program in Resource-challenged Regions

“…With similar intent, we recently published a collaborative scholarly work featuring Haitian-made simulation trainers. We chose an open-access journal in order to make it accessible for health professionals in low resource contexts [ 35 ].…”

Emergency Medicine in Remote Regions

“…Shoelaces make ideal suture material; ubiquitous in local markets, they do not dry out and/or break like commercially available material, whose alcohol preservative evaporates over time. Colleagues at the Justinian University Hospital in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, devised a laparoscopic surgery task trainer from a variety of inexpensive local materials [ 4 ]. If sound teaching practices are employed, the learning is just as good using these simple tools [ 5 ] as with the computerized human mannequins described above.…”