Keywords
Open access funding provided by Royal Library, Copenhagen University LibrarySurgical training is facing the constraints of work-hour limitations, demands for efficiency, and increased concerns regarding patient safety. Hence, much effort has been focused on developing efficient and effective training strategies for surgical residents, such as using simulation-based training [Simulation-based training for surgical residents can shorten the learning curve and improve technical skills, thus ensuring basic competencies before operating on patients. Several studies have shown that technical skills learned in a simulated environment are transferable to the operating room [Distributed practice refers to two or more learning opportunities that are spaced apart or distributed over time. This produces better learning than the same opportunities that occur in massed practice, and several theories have been proposed to account for the spacing effect. Learning opportunities that are spaced apart in time are more likely to receive a learner’s full attention, ultimately leading to better learning outcomes. More recent evidence suggests that spacing learning opportunities across different days may benefit memory due to sleep-dependent neural consolidation processes [Distributed training has also been shown to be beneficial for simulation-based training of surgical skills [The objective of this trial was to investigate if training using shorter intervals (1–2 days) was superior to longer intervals (6–8 days) between training sessions when using proficiency-based training.