Study: Simulators make surgeons better

Using simulators to train surgeons makes them quicker and better, according to a study by Danish researchers. The Copenhagen University Hospital team said the use of simulators should be part of the of the surgeon training process after monitoring the performance of 24 junior doctors. The researchers put the surgeons in two groups—one which had the traditional training of working alongside doctors and tutoring and another which supplemented this with seven hours simulator training. They found that those that used the computer simulators were twice as quick, taking just 12 minutes to complete the operation on a patient, and they also carried out better procedures according to a points system used to judge the quality of the work.