Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan 9;12(1):e6612.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.6612.

Investigating the Perceived Efficacy of a Silicone Suturing Task Trainer Using Input from Novice Medical Trainees

Patrick O Gallagher  1 , Nicole Bishop  2 , Adam Dubrowski  3
Affiliations

Investigating the Perceived Efficacy of a Silicone Suturing Task Trainer Using Input from Novice Medical Trainees

Patrick O Gallagher et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Suturing is an essential procedural skill that medical students are expected to be competent in before they graduate medical school; however, there is often a lack of suturing instruction and practice in undergraduate medicine curriculums. Silicone suturing task trainers created from 3D printed molds can help address this gap in medical education by improving student's manual skills before they perform procedures on real patients upon graduation. Commercially available suture task trainers on the market today lack validation from medical learners; therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the perceived efficacy of a silicone skin suture task trainer created from a 3D printed mold using input from novice medical trainees. A silicone task trainer created by MUN Med 3D was used to teach suturing during two surgery interest group skill development sessions. At the end of the sessions, 38 medical students completed a product evaluation survey that assessed the perceived educational efficacy of the suturing task trainer. Overall, the feedback received from the participants was positive and supported the use of silicone suturing task trainers in undergraduate medicine curriculums.

Keywords: simulation based medical education; suture; three-dimensional printing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Silicone suturing task trainer used for suturing simulation during the skills night
A: Complete set of materials each student was given for a session. B: Student practicing suturing.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Frequency of response for suture task trainer product evaluation survey questions 4, 5 and 10 (n = 38)
Q4: How effective is the suture skin task trainer in increasing your competency in suturing?  Q5: How effective is the suture skin task trainer in increasing your confidence to perform suturing? Q10: Rate the value of the suture skin task trainer as a training tool.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Frequency of responses for the global rating of improvements required for the suturing skin task trainer (n = 38)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Three-dimensional printing and medical education: a narrative review of the literature. Bartellas M. UOJM. 2016;6:38–43.
    1. To the point: medical education review of the role of simulators in surgical training. Hammoud MM, Nuthalapaty FS, Goepfert AR, et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2008;199:338–343. - PubMed
    1. A novel clinical-simulated suture education for basic surgical skill: suture on the biological tissue fixed on standardized patient evaluated with objective structured assessment of technical skill (OSATS) tools. Shen Z, Yang F, Gao P, et al. J Investig Surg. 2018;31:333–339. - PubMed
    1. Investigating the efficacy of anatomical silicone models developed from a 3D printed mold for perineal repair suturing simulation. [Oct;2018 ];Goudie C, Shanahan J, Gill A, Murphy D, Dubrowski A. https://www.cureus.com/articles/13677-investigating-the-efficacy-of-anat... Cureus. 2018 10:0. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Banana fruit: an “appealing” alternative for practicing suture techniques in resource-limited settings. Wong K, Bhama P, d’Amour Mazimpaka J, Dusabimana R, Lee L, Shaye D. Am J Otolaryngol. 2018;39:582–584. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources