Training Centres ~ Imperial College

Education Centre (Imperial College London)

NOTE: There will be an educational section on this website which will provide an electronic educational resource exclusively accessible for programme trainees. This will incorporate an e-library of lecture material from the programme courses, a video-library of operations performed by various experts, technical top tips, and a “blog” which will enable online discussion between trainees and experts.

The Education centre of the National Training Programme is based at Imperial College London. It provides support for the programme in order to allow the development of a structured training pathway for laparoscopic colorectal surgery. Our group will be conducting educational research with a focus on assessment and training. The aim of this is to allow validated certification at the end of the training period.

Structured Training Pathway

The National Training Programme (NTP) provides the trainees with a structured training scheme.

After registration to the NTP the trainee will be allocated to one of the Training Centres near their hospital. Once registered, the trainee will attend a course in laparoscopic colorectal surgery. The core part of the programme will entail mentored training. In this phase the trainee will operate under the guidance of an expert trainer (supervisor) from the training centre. By arrangement with the supervisor they can perform cases at their own hospital or in the training centre.

Each training case will be documented and feedback will be given to the trainee. Documentation, including video analysis, will be managed by the educational centre.

As soon as the trainees feel confident, they can enter the certification process in accordance with the supervisor.

Mentoring

The structured training of the NTP is documented throughout the training phase. This is not only to ensure patient safety issues, but also to provide trainees with feedback about their performance. The documentation supports both trainee and trainer to reflect on the mentored cases. Furthermore data from mentored cases will be used for educational research in order to provide future trainees with improved training and assessment methods.

Practical Guidance

For each training case within the programme trainees will be provided with a package containing 4 different items (continuous assessment):

1. PREOPERATIVE: consent materials

2. POSTOPERATIVE: assessment Forms A/B

3. BLANK DVD

4. RETURN ENVELOPE

The continuous assessment takes four steps:

1. CONSENTING. As soon as the trainees consent patients for the operation they need to obtain consent for the recording.

2. RECORDING. During the operation they will record the whole laparoscopic part of the procedure in full length. Some some video systems stop recording after a certain period and have to be restarted again.

3. ASSESSMENT. Immediately after the operation trainee supervisor have to fill in the assessment forms (Forms A/B)

4. FOLLOW UP. We need a copy of the histopathological report. By the time the surgeon receives the report they will also be able to fill in the follow-up section (Section E) of Form B.

Certification Process

In accordance with the trainee the supervisor will introduce the signing off process. Video recorded cases will be sent to independent experts for a blinded assessment. Perfomance will be rated according to structured guidelines and the trainee will be signed off by the central office.

Research

Our research focus is on educational schemes and its impact on training advanced surgical technologies. We are investigating different methods of teaching and assessing technical performance. We are also exploring the potential of novel surgical teaching aids (virtual 3D simulations, tele-mentoring, etc.).

Who’s Who

Educational Lead: Professor George Hanna, PhD FRCS

Educational Manager: Miss Melody Ni, MSc

Research Fellow : Hugh Mackenzie

Any questions/queries regarding educational issues

Miss Melody Ni

z.ni@imperial.ac.uk

(T) 02078867657

Downloads for registered trainees and supervisors (see separate pdf-files):

Form A, B, C

GAS Form A

GAS Form B