Introduction:

It was found that the good performance in conventional techniques was not transferable to minimally-invasive alternatives, and then simulators were created for improved learning.

Objective:

To assess whether robotic virtual reality simulation conditions ability for laparoscopy in medical students, associating the VARK tool and Mind Styles to determine whether there is a correlation between learning styles and the ability to develop these skills.

Methods:

Randomization of 3 groups of medical students was performed, where one of the groups performed a simulation of a surgical knot exercise in the laparoscopy box and another, the same exercise on the robot console. The third group did not simulate. All participants took a practical test in the laparoscopy box and their performances were evaluated. Moreover, a pre-test and a post-test were applied, in addition to the VARK and mind styles methods, to assess whether there was a difference in performance between the different learning styles.

Results:

The practical test scores were relatively homogeneous between the groups and between the Mind Styles and VARK categories, with no significant difference being found between the groups; therefore, it was not possible to demonstrate that learning styles interfered with the results of this study. There was only a significant difference between the pre-test scores of at least one pair of the groups and between the Laparoscopy and Robotics groups, with a p-value of 0.038.

Conclusion:

There was no statistical significance between learning styles and performance regarding the proposed tasks.

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