Impact of a new teaching model on the fine cosmetic suturing operation and quantitative assessment of the training effect on plastic surgeons

Background

Traditional lecture-based teaching (TLT) has long been the primary method of teaching plastic suturing techniques and even surgical education. It has been challenging to adapt this approach to fit the educational objectives of plastic surgery, which is a very practical science. Additionally, it is mainly teacher-led, and the course content is teacher-driven, which has disadvantages such as difficulty in motivating students and disconnection from clinical practice. Therefore, we developed a video point-to-point teaching (VPT) method and teamwork-based teaching (TBT) to study the effect of the new teaching model on fine cosmetic suturing operation (FCSO) and training outcomes for plastic surgeons.

Methods

We selected 30 junior doctors from the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Chinese PLA General Hospital. All trainees were randomly assigned to three groups: TLT, VPT, and TBT. All trainees had their performances photographed, and a senior attending physician was appointed as a rater. We rated the process and results of FCSO according to a uniform rubric following the double-blind principle to compare the effects of different teaching modes on the trainees’ FCSO and differences in training outcomes.

Results

There was no significant effect of video recording on trainees’ FCSO (P>0.05). The total scores of the first suturing in the three groups were as follows: TLT group (13.18 ​± ​1.66), VPT group (13.63 ​± ​1.97), and TBT group (13.50 ​± ​2.26), with no significant difference among the groups (P>0.05), indicating that the starting level of the trainees in the three groups was basically the same. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the VPT (20.30 ​± ​2.17) and TBT (20.38 ​± ​2.29) groups, but both of these groups were significantly better than the TLT group (16.43 ​± ​1.86, P<0.01).

Conclusion

The TBT and VPT methods are significantly better than TLT. However, the TBT method is more economical and optimal for teachers and better utilizes students’ initiative in learning and operation, which improves the teaching level and training efficiency.