First General Surgery Virtual Residency Program To Allow Training Anytime, Anywhere Launched In Collaboration With Ethicon

Technology-based Platform Provides Novel Learning Experience

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Oct 23, 2017, 08:15 ET

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This week at the ACS Clinical Congress, Ethicon*, part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies**, and Touch Surgery are joining together to introduce the first general surgery Virtual Residency Program. This unique collaboration will allow academic medical institutions to formally integrate the 3-D simulation platform into their resident training curriculum. As the surgical education community grapples with the challenge of needing to teach more surgery content in less time to surgical trainees, the Virtual Residency Program fills the gap with a mobile, app-based platform that allows trainees to practice and rehearse surgery anytime, anywhere. Early enrollment in the Virtual Residency Program is strong, with more than 75 institutions enrolled since the program was pre-released in April.

"Ethicon is committed to supporting the continuing educational needs of residents and surgeons by providing access to innovative training programs that can help improve surgical outcomes and the standard of care patients receive," said Diana Bacci-Walsh, Vice President, North America Education Solutions, Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies. "The fact that we've seen so many resident programs in such a short time shows our customers are eager for this ground-breaking training platform and understand its potential value to enhance the surgical team's performance in the OR."

The Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies (JJMDC) have a longstanding commitment to professional medical education that spans more than 130 years. The collaboration is another example of JJMDC's overall focus on delivering innovation in medical education that helps meet the needs of today's healthcare professionals in a rapidly changing healthcare environment.

"The Virtual Residency Program offers an engaging way for residents to learn the steps of procedures," said James Lau, MD, Director of the Simulation Center at Stanford University. "Resident learning needs to be platform-based and asynchronous as we move forward. There is nothing else like this out there."

About the Virtual Residency Program
Ethicon has sponsored a comprehensive library of more than 30 general surgery procedures on the platform that align to ACGME requirements for residents. Leveraging the free Virtual Residency Program, residency program directors can assign general surgery simulations to residents, track and measure their progress from a web-based dashboard, and recognize their proficiency by awarding certificates of completion upon successfully mastering a procedure. Surgical trainees can use the platform to rehearse and develop their cognitive skills, which serve as a critical foundation for performing any given surgical procedure.

"The days of the surgical atlas are over," said Dr. Gregory Greco, Program Director of the General Surgery Training Program at Monmouth Medical Center, part of the RWJ Barnabas Health System in New Jersey. "Our residents are seeking personal, portable, and interactive educational tools."

Published studies confirm the effectiveness of the 3D simulation app. After using the app, novices had the same understanding as experts of the basic steps of a surgical procedure,¹and knowledge was acquired more quickly compared to traditional training methods.²

The general surgery Virtual Residency Program is currently available in the U.S. To learn more about the general surgery library available as part of the Virtual Residency Program, visit Ethicon.com/TouchSurgery.

About Ethicon
From creating the first sutures, to revolutionizing surgery with minimally invasive procedures, Ethicon, part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, has made significant contributions to surgery for more than 60 years. Our continuing dedication to Shape the Future of Surgery is built on our commitment to help address the world's most pressing health care issues, and improve and save more lives. Through Ethicon's surgical technologies and solutions including sutures, staplers, energy devices, trocars and hemostats and our commitment to treat serious medical conditions like obesity and cancer worldwide, we deliver innovation to make a life-changing impact. Learn more at www.ethicon.com, and follow us on Twitter @Ethicon.

* Ethicon represents the products and services of Ethicon, Inc., Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC and certain of their affiliates.

**The Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies comprise the surgery, orthopedics, and cardiovascular businesses within Johnson & Johnson's Medical Devices segment.

¹ Sugand K, et al. Training effect of using Touch Surgery™ for intramedullary femoral nailing. Injury. 2016;47(2):448-52. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2015.09.036.

² Brewer Z. E, et al. Creation and Global Deployment of a Mobile, Application-Based Cognitive Simulator for Cardiac Surgical Procedures. Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2016;28(1):1-9. doi: 10.1053/j.semtcvs.2016.02.006

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SOURCE Ethicon