How can I improve laparoscopic skills like orientation from different views (in the abdomen)?

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paradoxofchoice

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How can I practice orientation when camera is in a side port? I get terribly disoriented and have a horrible time negotiating my hand movements with the TV.
 
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How can I practice orientation when camera is in a side port? I get terribly disoriented and have a horrible time negotiating my hand movements with the TV.

What year are you?

You need experience. Watching others as a junior and trying it out as a senior. At some point you’ll be impressed with what you’ve learned to do.
 
Gotta get reps in sim lab. Anybody can do it with enough practice.
 
Actually thats a good point, I cant remember ever, even a single time, practicing doing lap stuff in the sim lab while working against yourself with the camera. You should definitely do that. Its an extremely difficult skill for mid-level and even chief residents to learn.
 
Actually thats a good point, I cant remember ever, even a single time, practicing doing lap stuff in the sim lab while working against yourself with the camera. You should definitely do that. Its an extremely difficult skill for mid-level and even chief residents to learn.
I still have trouble working opposite the camera. Means I have great incentive to avoid working like that.

OP, getting both hands working helps to get your brain on the right track. Practicing it in the sim lab is a great idea since practice is really the only thing that will help you improve.
 
FPS games. Have you tried Goldeneye for N64? Semi-srs.
 
Video games are great for the basic skill of controlling something with your hands on some sort of instrument while looking at a screen. I fail to see how it would help with the issue of working against yourself or reversing orientation. Though I suppose you could switch back and forth from normal controls to "inverted" and force your brain to adapt repeatedly. Hmm, that might work. Dibs on oddjob.

In all seriousness, I'm getting a little wary of the emphasis on simulation and the associated simulated carriculum for lap and/or robotics. Don't get me wrong, working on the simulator is a great way to become acquainted with the instruments and controls, e.g. For the robot it is a great way to learn how to move the instruments/clutch the camera and even basic needle control, but these simulators fail utterly when it comes to interacting with tissue, traction/countertraction, and energy dissection. I feel (and have heard from residents at other programs) that these programs are being used too much in lieu of rather then in addition to first-hand operative experience.

I preferred the way my program handled it prior to instituting our curriculum. You were put on the console like you would be expected to do something in any other case. And if you were flailing and didn't know your way around the robot/lap instrument, the attending would boot you off. It was on you to prepare yourself adequately, just like if you show up to your cystectomy not knowing the steps or anatomy, you weren't going to get to do much.
 
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