Learning assessment at shoulder surgical skills course

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Orthopaedics

Background:

• Surgical skills courses are crucial for training surgeons.
• Current assessments are often subjective and anecdotal.
• Objective assessment tools like MCQs can quantify learning outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a surgical skills course.
• To objectively measure learning gains using multiple choice questions (MCQs).
• To compare learning outcomes between consultant and non-consultant surgeons.

Main Methods:

• Participants of an open shoulder surgical skills course were assessed using MCQs before and after the course.
• Participants were categorized into non-consultants and consultant orthopaedic surgeons.
• Statistical analysis was performed to compare learning gains between groups, adjusting for pre-course scores.

Main Results:

• All participants demonstrated improvement in MCQ scores post-course, with an average gain of 17%.
• A strong positive correlation was found between pre-course scores and score gains (r = 0.734; P = 0.001).
• Learning gains were slightly higher in non-consultants compared to consultants, but this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.247).

Conclusions:

• Surgical skills courses provide a positive learning experience for all participants.
• Objective assessment using MCQs effectively quantifies learning in surgical training.
• Surgeon grade (consultant vs. non-consultant) did not significantly correlate with learning gains.