Learning basic surgical skills with mental imagery: using the simulation centre in the mind.

Context: Although surgeons and athletes frequently use mental imagery in preparing to perform, mental imagery has not been extensively researched as a learning technique in medical education.

Objective: A mental imagery rehearsal technique was experimentally compared with textbook study to determine the effects of each on the learning of basic surgical skills.

Methods: Sixty-four Year 2 medical students were randomly assigned to 2 treatment groups in which they undertook either mental imagery or textbook study.

A reliable and valid instrument to assess competency in basic surgical skills in second-year medical students.

Background: Despite calls for competency based education, a dearth of validated instruments for measuring basic skills currently exists. We developed an instrument to assess competency in basic surgical skills in second-year medical students and tested it for psychometric reliability and validity.

Methods: From a review of the literature, an instrument comprised of numerically scaled items was constructed.

Attitudes of veterinary medical students and medical students toward collaborative learning: an experiment.

This study measured the attitudes of 55 medical students and 30 veterinary medical students as they participated in an experiment of collaborative teaching and learning about basic surgical skills. Two parallel forms of an attitude questionnaire were developed, with three subscales: confidence in one's own surgical skill; collaboration with the other type of student; and inter-professional collaboration in general. These attitude scales were administered before and after an experiment involving the veterinary medical students teaching the medical students incision and exploratory laparoscopy in a laboratory setting using live rabbits.

Comparing the effects of physical practice and mental imagery rehearsal on learning basic surgical skills by medical students.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the effects of varying the amount of physical practice and mental imagery rehearsal on learning basic surgical procedures.

Study Design: Using a sample of 65 second-year medical students, 3 randomized groups received either: (1) 3 sessions of physical practice on suturing a pig's foot; (2) 2 sessions of physical practice and 1 session of mental imagery rehearsal; or (3) 1 session of physical practice and 2 sessions of imagery rehearsal. All participants then performed a surgery on a live rabbit in the operating theater of a veterinary college under approved conditions.