A mixed-method survey study evaluating two robotic surgical training courses in Germany

Background: Despite considerable efforts of several societies and robotic surgery working groups, there is still no standardized training for robotic surgery for residents. We recently organized two robotic surgical courses in Germany and the goal of this study is to evaluate both courses using a mix-method approach. Materials and methods: An anonymous survey, consisting of twenty-one questions of which seventeen were multiple choice and four were open end questions was filled out by the participants after both courses. Results: A total of 34 participants were present at both courses. Most of the participants were male (29 of 34 (85.3%)), mean age was 46.4 ± 10.2 years, Among the participants, the most of them were consultant surgeons (88.2%) and worked in an Academic Hospital (58.8%). A total of 21 participants had a Robotic system in their hospital. In terms of ideal course format, 64.7% of the respondents preferred a combination of formal lectures with hands-on lab experience. For the hands-on experience 32.4% preferred either a wet lab with organic animal organ ex-plants or with human cadavers. Most important themes in the thematic analysis were duration, frequency, and costs of robotic surgical courses. Conclusion: Robotic surgery is increasing worldwide and therefore adequate robotic surgical training courses are needed to train the future generations of surgeons.