Visual learning: harnessing images to educate residents optimally

Surgical educators are confronted with outdated models of education and less time for teaching. Digital images present an opportunity for a new method of education. In this method, students are presented with a series of key images, each representing an important teaching point (radiographs, patient external images, operative images, and histopathology images) and asked to construct a corresponding case presentation. In this fashion, the traditional presentation is disassembled and the learner is responsible for teaching his or her colleagues. By incorporating surgical images into the teaching process, the teacher enhances insight and learning. In addition, by prompting the students to add creative elements to the thought process for diagnosis and management, the teaching format can be a dynamic and interactive process.