Background: The purpose of this study was to quantify the learning curve of a previously validated laparoscopic skills curriculum.

Methods: Second-year medical students (MS2, n = 11) and second (PGY2, n = 11) and third (PGY3, n = 6) year surgery residents were enrolled into a curriculum using five video-trainer tasks. All subjects underwent baseline testing, training (30 minutes per day for 10 days), and final testing. Scores were based on completion time. The relationship between task completion time and the number of practice repetitions was examined. Improvement (the difference in baseline and final performance) amongst groups was compared by one-way analysis of variance using the baseline score as a covariate; P <0.05 indicated significance.

Results: Baseline scores were not significantly different. Final scores were significantly better for MS2s versus PGY3s. Adjusted-improvement was significantly larger for the MS2s compared with PGY2s and PGY3s, and for PGY2s compared with PGY3s. The mean number of repetitions corresponding to a predicted 90th percentile score was 32.

Conclusions: Inexperienced subjects benefit the most from skills training. For maximal benefit, we recommend that each task be practiced for at least 30 to 35 repetitions.