A Systematic Scoping Review of the Current Applications of Digital Technology in Undergraduate Surgical Education.

IF 1 Q3 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Cureus Pub Date : 2025-01-11 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.7759/cureus.77278
Fang Fang Quek, Stephen Meldrum, Jane Hislop
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Over the past few decades, technological advancements have established digital tools as an indispensable pedagogical resource in the realm of modern education. In the field of medical education, there is growing interest in how these digital tools can be effectively integrated to enhance undergraduate surgical education. However, despite their well-documented potential benefits, research specifically investigating the current use of digital technology in undergraduate surgical education remains limited, highlighting a critical gap in the existing literature. To address this research gap, this scoping review aims to elucidate the current utilisation of digital technologies in undergraduate surgical education by addressing the research question: 'How are digital technologies currently being utilised in undergraduate surgical education to meet surgical learning outcomes'. A scoping review was performed, adopting the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) framework. A comprehensive search strategy was conducted using the search terms 'technology' OR 'simulation' OR 'virtual reality' OR 'augmented reality' OR 'digital' OR 'online' AND 'undergraduate' AND 'surgical' on multiple electronic bibliographic databases including PubMed, Medline, ERIC, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science. These search terms were executed using both free-text and MeSH terms, with search terms combined using Boolean operators to ensure all relevant citations were captured. All search results were screened against the eligibility criteria using Covidence, a web-based software platform, using a two-stage process. Subsequently, all included studies were reviewed, and the extracted data was systematically sorted and organised, with the findings presented graphically accompanied by descriptive narratives. A thematic analysis was also performed to identify themes within the data to synthesise key findings. This scoping review revealed three key findings. First, the use of digital tools in surgical education has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the integration of technology into surgical education. Second, this review also highlighted the key role of anatomy within surgical education, with most included studies reporting the use of digital technologies to enhance anatomy teaching. Finally, this review provided an overview of various digital tools used in surgical education and their associated user experiences. Overall, most studies indicated that digital technologies are well-received by students, with many advocating for their continued use in supplementing surgical education even beyond the pandemic. This review provides a crucial foundation for understanding the evolving role of digital innovations in shaping undergraduate surgical education. To enhance undergraduate surgical education, integrating appropriate digital learning tools can provide more learner-centred and personalised learning experiences. Educators must recognise that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach, and a flexible multimodal strategy is necessary to meet diverse learning needs. As technology continues to evolve and its role in education grows, this review offers valuable insights into the current use of digital tools in surgical education, highlighting opportunities for improvement and innovation to further enhance undergraduate surgical experience.

数字技术在外科本科教育中的应用综述。
在过去的几十年里,技术的进步使数字工具成为现代教育领域不可或缺的教学资源。在医学教育领域,如何有效地整合这些数字工具来加强本科外科教育越来越引起人们的兴趣。然而,尽管有充分的证据表明数字技术有潜在的好处,但专门调查目前在本科外科教育中使用数字技术的研究仍然有限,这突出了现有文献中的一个关键空白。为了解决这一研究差距,本范围审查旨在通过解决研究问题来阐明当前数字技术在本科外科教育中的应用:“目前如何在本科外科教育中利用数字技术来满足外科学习成果”。采用乔安娜布里格斯研究所(JBI)框架进行范围审查。在包括PubMed、Medline、ERIC、Embase、Scopus和Web of Science在内的多个电子书目数据库上,使用搜索词“technology”、“simulation”、“virtual reality”、“augmented reality”、“digital”、“online”、“undergraduate”和“surgical”进行了全面的搜索策略。使用自由文本和MeSH术语执行这些搜索术语,并使用布尔运算符组合搜索术语,以确保捕获所有相关引用。使用基于网络的软件平台covid - ence按照合格标准对所有搜索结果进行筛选,采用两阶段流程。随后,对所有纳入的研究进行了回顾,并对提取的数据进行了系统的分类和组织,并将研究结果以图形形式呈现,并附有描述性叙述。还进行了专题分析,以确定数据中的主题,以综合主要发现。这一范围审查揭示了三个关键发现。首先,在过去的几十年里,数字工具在外科教育中的使用一直在稳步增加,COVID-19大流行加速了技术与外科教育的融合。其次,本综述还强调了解剖学在外科教育中的关键作用,大多数纳入的研究报告了使用数字技术来增强解剖学教学。最后,本综述概述了外科教育中使用的各种数字工具及其相关的用户体验。总体而言,大多数研究表明,数字技术受到学生的欢迎,许多人主张即使在大流行之后,也要继续使用数字技术作为外科教育的补充。这篇综述为理解数字创新在塑造本科外科教育中的不断发展的作用提供了重要的基础。为了加强本科外科教育,整合适当的数字学习工具可以提供更多以学习者为中心和个性化的学习体验。教育工作者必须认识到,没有“放之四海而皆准”的方法,需要灵活的多模式策略来满足不同的学习需求。随着技术的不断发展及其在教育中的作用越来越大,本综述为当前外科教育中数字工具的使用提供了有价值的见解,强调了改进和创新的机会,以进一步提高本科外科经验。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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