PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Ryaan EL-Andari AU - Sabin J. Bozso AU - Jimmy J.H. Kang AU - Nicholas M. Fialka AU - Corey Adams AU - Jeevan Nagendran TI - Teaching heart valve surgery techniques using simulators: a systematic review AID - 10.1503/cjs.017921 DP - 2023 Mar 17 TA - Canadian Journal of Surgery PG - E139--E149 VI - 66 IP - 2 4099 - http://canjsurg.ca/content/66/2/E139.short 4100 - http://canjsurg.ca/content/66/2/E139.full SO - CAN J SURG2023 Mar 17; 66 AB - The apprentice model has traditionally been the primary method of teaching cardiac surgery trainees. Limitations of this model include insufficient time to learn all necessary skills, minimal exposure to rare cases and to complex repair techniques, small number of patients in small centres, high cost and absence of objective measures of feedback. In recent years, simulation-based training (SBT) has been used in order to address the gaps left by the apprentice model. We performed a systematic review of PubMed and Embase for articles investigating the use of SBT in teaching surgical valve techniques published in 2022 or earlier in order to summarize the current literature regarding the use of SBT for trainees learning surgical valve repair and replacement techniques. We compiled data on the impact of SBT on time to completion of tasks, proportion of trainees who committed technical errors, skills scores and theoretical knowledge. Studies in which outcomes were evaluated showed significant improvement in these measures after participation in SBT. Simulation-based training has been shown to improve the surgical skills of trainees in a rela-tively short period. As hands-on experience in the field of cardiac surgery is invaluable and often difficult to reproduce effectively, it is likely that a combination of hands-on training and SBT will be adopted moving forward to provide optimal exposure for surgical trainees.