The role of surgeon-point-of-view recording in undergraduate surgical pedagogy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background

The Indian medical curriculum recently included Early Clinical Exposure (ECE) to enhance the undergraduate medical training. A key challenge in in implementing it in surgical education is to ensure adequate operating room (OR) exposure, while maintaining sterility and minimizing the OR traffic. Traditional teaching methods such as surgical simulators and virtual dissecting tables provide anatomical insights but lack the immersive experience of an actual OR setting. Intraoperative video recordings, particularly using compact and surgeon-controlled devices like GoPro cameras, offer an effective alternative for augmenting the surgical training. This study intends to assess the scope of recording technologies in enhancing undergraduate medical education in the surgical subjects.

Methodology

This study was registered in PROSPERO database and the registration number is CRD420251049770.A systematic review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar was performed using MeSH and non-MeSH terms related to surgical recording technologies. Articles describing the use of head-mounted or point-of-view cameras like GoPro or Google Glass, for live teaching and surgical training were included, while those using instrument-mounted cameras (e.g., arthroscope, endoscope) or hypothetical discussions were excluded. Data extraction focused on the type and number of cameras used, their purpose, and the target audience.

Results

A total of 1472 articles on surgical video recording were identified. Following the elimination of duplicates, 964 records were evaluated, resulting in the exclusion of 818 based on title and abstract analysis. Following full-text evaluation of 146 articles, 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were conducted in general surgery and orthopaedics (n = 7), followed by neurosurgery (n = 4). Overhead camera systems were used in 21 studies, while tripod-mounted cameras were used in three studies. Most studies employed GoPro Hero 4, 5, and 6 models. The studies primarily focused on undergraduate teaching (n = 19), with some evaluating postgraduate training (n = 3).

Conclusion

Head-mounted recording devices, such as GoPro cameras, provide an effective, cost-efficient, and easily implementable tool for surgical instruction. They enhance undergraduate training by offering a OR exposure perspective while maintaining sterility and reducing OR congestion. The integration of sports camera-based intra operative recording should be considered a standard component of practical instruction in medical schools to improve surgical education and training outcomes.