Creation and validation of a novel low-cost dry lab for early resident training and assessment of robotic prostatectomy technical proficiency.

Purpose: To evaluate the preliminary validity and acceptability of a low-cost low-fidelity robotic surgery dry lab for training and assessing residents' technical proficiency with key robotic radical prostatectomy steps. Materials and methods: Three standardized inanimate tasks were created to simulate the radical prostatectomy steps of posterior dissection, neurovascular bundle release, and urethrovesical anastomosis. Urology trainees and faculty at a single institution completed and evaluated each dry lab task. Construct validity was evaluated by comparing task completion times and Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills scores across four participant cohorts: medical students (n = 5), junior residents (n = 5), senior residents (n = 5), and attending surgeons (n = 7). Content validity, face validity, and acceptability were evaluated through a posttask survey using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: There was a significant difference in the individual and composite task completion times and Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills scores across all participant cohorts (all Conclusions: This low-cost procedure-specific dry lab demonstrated evidence of content validity, construct validity, and acceptability for simulating key robotic prostatectomy technical steps and can be used to augment robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy surgical training.