DEHST technology is redefining the training of orthopedic residents
The AO project enabling digital solutions for hands-on training, now fully embedded under the AO Education Institute’s AO Milestones trauma program, has been put through its paces at educational events in North America and will be prominently featured in this year’s AO Davos Courses.
At AO Trauma North America’s recent basic and advanced principles courses in Toronto, Canada, both faculty and residents had the opportunity to test the AO’s digitally enhanced hands-on surgical training platform, now commonly known under the acronym DEHST.
“For our basic [principals] course, it would be a great addition,” said AO Trauma faculty member Stephen Sims. Faculty member Geoff Wilkin called DEHST “a good exercise, especially for junior residents, that allows them to change view and position of the C-arm,” and faculty member Jennifer Bruggers said the system addresses an existing issue in terms of safe teaching. She also lauded its ability to assess learners’ performance: “The visual assessment and metrics to get better feedback of how you are performing the task helps us better educate.
Another faculty member, Carla Smith, described DEHST as a very low-risk way to establish key components of a surgical procedure: “It provides a risk-free learning environment to really underscore the principle and practice the general proficiency.
Residents who had a chance to try DEHST highlighted its accuracy, its usefulness in practicing surgical tasks that aren’t typically taught or practiced outside of the operating room (OR), and its tactile feedback. “The x-ray is so accurate and looks like what we have in the OR. DEHST is easy to implement because it is real,” said Jaqi Kakalecik, a fourth-year resident at the University of Florida.
DEHST’s qualities make it an ideal component of AO Milestones, the AO Trauma program redefining orthopedic residency training by integrating modern technology with the cornerstones of traditional medical education. Designed to meet the rigorous standards established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), AO Milestones ensures that orthopedic residents are well-prepared for the demands of today's rapidly evolving medical field.
In addition, DEHST modules will be featured in various educational offerings during the AO Davos Courses (AO DC) this December. DEHST will augment the classical patient positions module of the AO Trauma Basic Principles Course with a new hands-on exercise on intraoperative imaging and enhance the current scope of the practical exercise of intramedullary nailing with a module for freehand distal interlocking training (also to be used in the AO Trauma Basic Principles Course for Swiss Surgeons). DEHST will also be part of the tri-plane fracture exercise during AO Trauma’s Managing Pediatric Fractures Course, and a new module for veterinary surgery will be featured during AO VET’s Feline Orthoepaedics and Traumatology. Moreover, DEHST’s latest developments will be on display as part of the AO experience during both weeks of the AO DC.
Find out more about the 2024 AO Davos Courses by visiting our website.