2024 Children's of Alabama/UAB Annual Report

Surgery

Using Games to Help with Surgical Robot Training

When the Children’s of Alabama urology department acquired its first Da Vinci surgical robot in January 2023, Carmen Tong, D.O., pediatric urologist at Children’s of Alabama, developed a training curriculum that brings in classic children’s games to help residents develop their skills with the new technology.

“There’s a movement in urology to ‘gamify’ the robot,” Tong said. “Such training is vital to the safety of our patients.”

Carmen Tong, D.O.

Surgeons are very competitive, she said. “Gamification taps into our competitive side and allows us to push and encourage each other to improve. It helps with camaraderie.”

Indeed, studies show that gamification, whether with actual games like Tong is using or embedding competitions and rewards into skill development, enhances resident engagement.

The curriculum is not, however, all fun and games. Residents and any interested ancillary medical staff learn the robot from the inside out. “The surgeon who’s using that technology should be the most knowledgeable person of that technology,” Tong said. “We have to be prepared to troubleshoot to figure out what’s happening if the components of the robot are not responding the way we want.” The residents complete online modules and practice surgeries via a video game–type simulator. Then, every two months, Tong brings in the actual games, and the residents compete against each other using the robotic arm in place of their own hands. For instance, they used the Hasbro Perfection game, designed for kids ages 5 and up, to work on wrist articulation. The fast-paced puzzle involves fitting shapes into their matching holes before time is up and the pieces pop out.

2024 Academic Annual Report

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