Laparoscopic simulation for surgical residents in Ethiopia: course development and results

BACKGROUND: We aimed to develop and implement a laparoscopic skills curriculum in an Ethiopian surgical residency program. We hypothesized that residents would improve with practice. METHODS: We developed a laparoscopic curriculum by adapting existing training models. Six courses were conducted during 2012 and 2013 in a teaching hospital in Ethiopia. Eighty-eight surgical residents participated. Main outcome measures were laboratory task completion times and student survey responses. RESULTS: Students showed improvement in time needed to complete skills tasks with practice. Mean times improved for all 5 tasks (P <= .01). Students uniformly reported that the course was valuable. The curriculum is now taught and sustained by local faculty. CONCLUSIONS: The development and implementation of a collaborative and sustainable laparoscopic curriculum is possible in a low-resource environment. Such a curriculum can result in improved laparoscopic expertise, surgical trainee satisfaction, and may increase utilization of laparoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc.