"Development of Robotic Surgery and Deliberate Practice Curricula" and "Pre-injury frailty predicts one-year mortality in older adults with traumatic spine fractures."

Title: "Development of Robotic Surgery and Deliberate Practice Curricula"

Surgical residents must master a variety of technical skills while also balancing clinical and personal obligations. The traditional teaching method of "see one, do one, teach one" is insufficient for mastery of complex skills. The previous robotic surgery curriculum lacked structure and achievement metrics. Through literature and expert consensus, we built a curriculum that focuses on early exposure to fundamentals and repeated practice. A second focus involves deliberate practice, which is utilized by athletes and musicians to achieve elite performance. We have developed a deliberate practice curriculum for robotic suturing with the goal of accelerating skill acquisition. Preliminary results of curriculum experience will be presented.

Mentor: Dr. Sean Whelan

Title: "Pre-injury frailty predicts one-year mortality in older adults with traumatic spine fractures."

Nearly one-third of older adults experiencing low-energy traumatic spine fractures will die within one year of injury. Current trauma index scales have failed to identify at risk patients. Frailty is a poorly defined medical term often representing a patient's biopsychosocial reserve, or injury tolerance. Within this study we present strong evidence that pre-injury frailty, and not injury metrics per se, best predicts mortality outcomes in older adults with isolated spine fractures.