Developing an Evidence-Based Surgical Curriculum: Learning from a Randomized Controlled Trial of Surgical Rehearsal in Virtual Reality.

Background: Surgical rehearsal - patient-specific preoperative surgical practice - can be provided by virtual reality simulation. This study investigated the effect of surgical rehearsal on cortical mastoidectomy performance and procedure duration.

Methods: University students (n=40) were randomized evenly into a rehearsal and control group.

Automated assessment of cortical mastoidectomy performance in virtual reality.

Introduction: Cortical mastoidectomy is a core skill that Otolaryngology trainees must gain competency in. Automated competency assessments have the potential to reduce assessment subjectivity and bias, as well as reducing the workload for surgical trainers.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop and validate an automated competency assessment system for cortical mastoidectomy.

The Melbourne Mastoidectomy Scale: Validation of an end-product dissection scale for cortical mastoidectomy.

Introduction: Cortical mastoidectomy is a common otolaryngology procedure and represents a compulsory part of otolaryngology training. As such, a specific validated assessment score is needed for the progression of competency-based training in this procedure. Although multiple temporal bone dissection scales have been developed, they have all been validated for advanced temporal bone dissection including posterior tympanotomy, rather than the task of cortical mastoidectomy.