Global Surgical Training Challenge

Global Surgical Training Challenge

An initiative by the Intuitive Foundation, Nesta Challenges and MIT Solve.

• Home
• Courses
• Skills
• Knowledge
• Devices
• Toolbox

The Global Surgical Training Challenge (GSTC) is funded by the Intuitive Foundation and being run in partnership with Nesta Challenges, MIT Solve and Appropedia. Its aim is to make simulation-based surgical training accessible through low-cost, open-source training modules. The interactive and downloadable modules hosted on the site will include a self-assessment function that allows surgical practitioners to test their new skills.

Quick start

Main article: Global Surgical Training Challenge/Getting started

For a more extensive walk through setting up an account and making your own banner, work through the GSTC/Getting Started exercises. However, if you already have an account and want to dive right in, you can make a GSTC page using with any of these templates. Simply type the name you want for the page in the Name field and click "Create". It will make you a new GSTC page with the basic formatting filled in. You can always modify the formatting later if you want to change the structure of the page, including adding your own banner across the top. You will be able to link to this new page using the name.

Medical skills

• Browse medical skills

Knowledge pages

• Browse knowledge pages

Training modules

• Browse training modules

Equipment

• Browse medical equipment

Quiz

Toolbox

Check the useful resources to help you create and document your simulation modules.

Example course

Foothill College EMT Program is our first example of an integrated set of educational content. It contains the complete set of psychomotor skill modules necessary to complete and demonstrate competency for US National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) licensure, plus the additional modules required in the state of California for meeting most of the county-based requirements.

The top level page is a "Syllabus" page that uses the Training module template.

The Skill pages (Medical skills template) are based around an instructional video with special annotation tools and supporting content including equipment lists and quizzes (Quiz Template).

The Knowledge pages (Knowledge page template) are structured similarly, but without the video.

You will see that both the knowledge and the skill pages have an area for Self Assessment and Equipment. At present, these require editing in the source code edit mode, but we hope soon the visual editor will be usable in side bars (it is, at present being rolled out by Wikimedia Foundation)

The NREMT Skillset is a large, integrated set of skills that build on common subskills, and has many more pages that we would expect in a GSTC module, but it gives an example of the breadth of what can be done.

NREMT Skillset

This program is run by the Foothill College EMS Programs. The materials in this course encompass the psychomotor skills necessary for becoming eligible to sit the NREMT national certification exam, as well as the supplemental skills necessary to become a certified EMT in the state of California. They are listed in the order in which they should be learned, with a focus on mastering the fundamentals first, as some later skills build upon techniques learned in earlier skills. Typically the course is taught in a 2 quarter sequence.

Note that this does not cover the complete set of knowledge-based information tested in the cognitive exam administered by the NREMT, however, it helps prepare you for both the core skill and the supplemental skill examinations needed for certification in California, and covers the skills required by most state agencies. For complete requirements see the EMT Certification Handbook

This course is open access and may be used in any other certified program free of charge. It is not currently open edit, however, directors of accredited programs who are interested in contributing material or suggesting improvements are encouraged to contact us.

Some of the skills you'll learn are:

Read more...

About the GSTC

The Intuitive Foundation, in partnership with Nesta Challenges and MIT Solve, launched the Global Surgical Training Challenge to stimulate the creation of novel, low-cost surgical training modules. These open-source modules will help surgical practitioners to learn and assess new skills to improve the health of their communities. The Challenge aims to create a paradigm shift in how surgical practitioners learn and assess surgical techniques. The validated modules will be free to download and inexpensive to reproduce in a variety of global settings.

Each surgical simulation model will be accompanied by a self-assessment framework, allowing surgical practitioners to test their newly acquired skills and all modules (the model, know-how for build and training materials) will be free to download online at the Global Surgical Training Community on Appropedia.