Abstract: Objective To investigate whether medical students as teachers can facilitate the laparoscopic simulator training using the virtual reality simulator. Methods Thirty preclinical medical are randomly divided into two groups, 15 students are trained by student teachers (group A) and 15 students are trained by surgeons (group B). Both groups are trained by virtual reality simulator with the basic laparoscopic skills and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The performance between two groups is analyzed. Results There was no significant difference between the two group in the performance of laparoscopic skills. Conclusions The study confirmed that medical students can teach laparoscopic skills on a laparoscopic virtual reality simulator as effectively as the experienced surgeons.

Key words: Medical students as teachers, laparoscopy, virtual reality simulation, surgical teaching