Do procedural skills workshops during family practice residency work?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Family Medicine
• Surgical Skills Training

Background:

• Residency training aims to equip family physicians with essential procedural skills.
• The effectiveness of short procedural skills workshops in enhancing long-term clinical application remains under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if participation in a procedural skills workshop during family practice residency influences the future use of these skills in postgraduate clinical practice.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to former University of British Columbia family practice residents.
• Participants self-assessed their experience and competence in 6 office-based procedural skills.
• The study compared residents who attended workshops in 2001/2003 with those who did not (graduating 2000/2002).

Main Results:

• Workshop participation showed no positive impact on the future use of procedural skills.
• Attendees reported less experience in lateral epicondylitis injections compared to non-attendees.
• Significant sex-based differences in experience and competence were observed for gynecologic procedures and bursal injections.

Conclusions:

• Procedural skills workshops during residency did not significantly increase skill performance in clinical practice.
• The benefits of skills workshops may diminish without opportunities for continued practice.
• Short workshops may be better suited for recently graduated physicians with prior clinical experience.