Communication between Mentor and Mentee Using Videoconferencing in Surgical Training

Abstract

In surgical training, mentors and mentees communicate to expand mentees’ technical skills. However, access to mentors for education in surgical subspecialties is a challenge in many hospitals. Videoconferencing (VC), which enables real-time communication between mentors and mentees in different geographical locations, can overcome this challenge. This study examines a practice in Norway in which VC is used to provide education on a specific laparoscopic surgical procedure. Specifically, the study explores the characteristics of communication between a mentor and mentee using VC and how it affected communication. The empirical material consists of video recordings of an educational trajectory that included eight patient cases and focus group meetings. The communication reveals knowledge gaps and their closure through establishment of a shared understanding. In this way, VC supported the learning of technical skills while enabling feedback on non-technical elements. Both the mentor and mentee could reach their full potentials—expanding their own communicative skills and reflecting on their own abilities. VC also affected the relationship between the mentor and mentee, who were peers and colleagues rather than participants in the traditional mentee–mentor relationship. The results of this study will enable the development of an activity for non-technical skills to become relevant using VC.