Que. medical students use knee, shoulder simulator

Medical residents at the University of Montreal are the first in Canada to use a high-tech simulator to learn how to conduct arthroscopic surgery.

Students in the surgical sports medicine programrecently started using the machine, which features a life-sized artificialknee and shoulder that can be examined and operated on withfibre-optic endoscopes.

Dr. Vronique Godbout, an orthopedic surgeon and professor, said medical schools have difficulty training students on the procedure because of limited operating room time and a shortage of cadavers.

The procedure, a popular alternative to open surgery because of itsfaster recovery time,also demands a significant amount of training, she said.

"Ultimately the patient is the one who benefits from this specialized training. This teaching technology results in a greater number of specialists who can perform arthroscopies, providing patients with more access to such treatment," said Godbout.

Simulator tracks user performance

The simulator, called an Insight ArthroVR, is made by the Madrid-based company GMV Healthcare.

The user inserts a probe, or endoscope, into an artificial knee or shoulder, with the results tracked by a computer program. The user can also follow basic and advanced exercises as their training progresses.

Arthroscopic training has traditionally been offered in the last two years of residence for a student specializing in surgical sports medicine.

The University of Montreal Health Centre has now moved the training to the first two years of the residence in order to make specialists-in-training more familiar with the techniques at an earlier stage.

Seven to nine residents will have access to the simulator each year. The surgical sports medicine program is generally open to orthopedic residents from other universities.