The objective was to evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of a new 3D printed simulator for endoscopic pituitary surgery. This simulator was used at the Pituitary Workshop, a French theoretical and practical course designed to teach the basics of pituitary tumour management.

We conducted a cross-sectional study. The pituitary workshop had two components: (i) hands-on skills lab on the simulator, and (ii) lecture-based learning. The simulator was assessed by scoring its realism (face validity, score out of 80), its effectiveness in improving participants’ surgical technique (content validity, score out of 60), and its ability to differentiate levels of skill competence using performance metrics (construct validity, score out of 12). In a subgroup of 9 participants, the impact of the theoretical component of the course was also assessed (score out of 33), using a knowledge questionnaire before and after the course.

Participants were neurosurgery residents (n = 24) and board-certified neurosurgeons (n = 6), supervised by expert neurosurgeons (n = 3). Face and content validity scores were high, reaching 63.3 ± 8.4 and 55.7 ± 4.6 respectively. Performance scores were higher in the group of experts and board-certified neurosurgeons than in the group of residents (12 ± 0 and 11.3 ± 1.2 vs. 9.2 ± 2.3, P = 0.019). The knowledge score improved significantly after the workshop (25.5 ± 4.8 vs. 10.9 ± 5.8, P = 7.1e-05).

Based on the face, content and construct validity scores, simulation training using the new model can be considered feasible and useful for neurosurgery residents. The pituitary workshop has a positive practical and theoretical impact on the majority of participants.