Introduction Recently, the role of "live" surgical broadcasts (LSB) as an educational tool to demonstrate surgical techniques at conferences has been challenged, with concerns surrounding the well-being and safety of the patient as well as the surgeon. There have been notions that "as-live" surgical broadcasts (ALSB), pre-recorded unedited videos showing either the whole procedure or key features, may be educationally superior. Our study was hence conducted to determine which was deemed better by a diverse group of international urologists. Methods All participants of the World Congress of Endourology held in October 2015 in London were invited to complete an electronic survey using the conference app regarding LSB demonstrations compared to ASLB, before the congress and again after the congress. Only ALSB videos were used in the congress. Results Both pre and post-conference surveys showed that 76.9% and 78.2% of the participants respectively perceived that more teaching could be achieved in less time using ASLB. Secondly, 52.8% and 60.3% of respondents indicated ALSB as being superior to LSB before and after the conference respectively. Furthermore, 52.8% and 54.5% of respondents regarded ALSB videos as having more educational value than LSB before and after the conference respectively. Conclusion There was little perceived difference between ALSB and LSB, showing that ALSB is at least non-inferior as an educational tool. In view of the numerous ethical and logistical issues with LSB, we would advocate ASLB as the educational tool of choice for future surgical demonstration at conferences.
Journal of endourology / Endourological Society. 2016 Jun 08 [Epub ahead of print]
Yih Chyn Phan, Surayne Segaran, Oliver Wiseman, Philip James, Ralph Clayman, Arthur Smith, Abhay Rane
East Surrey Hospital, Department of Urology, Redhill, Surrey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ; ., East Surrey Hospital, 156670, Department of Urology, Redhill, Surrey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ; ., Addenbrooke's Hospital, Department of Urology, Cambridge, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ; ., East Surrey Hospital, Department of Urology, Redhill, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ; ., Univ. of California, Irvine, Department of Urology, Irvine, California, United States ; ., Smith Institute for Urology, Urology , 450 Lakeville Rd , New Hyde Park, New York, United States , 11042 ; ., East Surrey Hospital, Department of Urology, Redhill, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ; .