How does telementoring impact medical education within the surgical field? A scoping review

BACKGROUND: Surgical education strongly involves the use of mentorship to improve the confidence and efficiency of trainees. Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic may serve as a catalyst to promote the use of telementoring and other remote learning opportunities in medical education. METHODS: A comprehensive literature review was performed using the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library with respect to telementoring in the surgical field. RESULTS: The overall consensus of telementoring experience among all 25 studies was generally positive, citing “positive experience,” “increased confidence,” and “increased surgical skill.” Using over 15 different technologies, a total of 12 simulations, 149 tasks, and 491 surgeries were conducted via telementoring. Eight mentor-mentee relationships were identified, with the most common relationship being surgeon-to-surgeon in 12 studies. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of telementoring has been shown to be effective in improving surgical skills and learner experiences while overcoming financial and geographical barriers.