Teaching simulated arthroscopic Bankart repair: residents’ assessment at the Annual Shoulder Course

Background: This study’s aim was to evaluate the performance of senior orthopedic residents during simulated arthroscopic anterior stabilization (Bankart repair) before and after a national shoulder review course. Methods: Participants were assessed before and after the Annual Shoulder Review Course over a 3-day period, using a multiple-choice examination and surgery performance assessment. The surgical evaluation was completed by fellowship-trained surgeons using a standardized procedure checklist and a global rating scale. All Canadian senior orthopedic residents were invited to participate in the course. Results: The 57 participants showed improvement following the course. The written knowledge evaluation mean score increased, and all 3 surgical performance measurements improved: surgical task time improved from 4:40 min to 2:53 min (p < 0.001), surgical technique evaluation increased from 56% to 67% after the procedure checklist (p < 0.001), and anchor placement improved for all 3 aspects. Anchor entry point was the sole measure not to improve enough to reach statistical significance (p = 0.37). Conclusion: Our data support the inclusion of dry model surgical simulation as part of a surgical skills course for both training and assessment of orthopedic surgery residents.