Training surgical residents: the current Canadian perspective

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Residency Programs

Background:

• Surgical residents face practical experience limitations.
• Research indicates a need for structured curricula, skills acquisition, and feedback outside the operating room (OR).
• Formal assessment of technical skills is crucial for surgical education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the current state of surgical skill teaching and evaluation for Canadian residents across various specialties.
• To compare Obstetrics and Gynecology (ObGyn) residency programs with other surgical specialties regarding training methods and assessment.

Main Methods:

• 123 surveys were sent to program directors at 17 Canadian medical schools across nine surgical specialties.
• Survey data collected included program demographics, teaching methods, and assessment modalities from admission to graduation.
• ObGyn survey results were specifically compared against those of other surgical specialties.

Main Results:

• 70 surveys (57%) were returned from 15 medical schools (88%), representing all specialties.
• Didactic lectures were the most common teaching method (86%); skills laboratories were equally used by ObGyn programs (90%).
• Virtual reality simulator use was low (30% in ObGyn), and subjective mentor evaluation was the primary assessment method.
• Only 40% of ObGyn programs used a local curriculum, compared to 76% of other specialties (p=0.054).

Conclusions:

• Canadian surgical residencies predominantly rely on lectures and subjective evaluations.
• Standardized training curricula are not prevalent in Canadian ObGyn residency programs.
• There is a desire among program directors for the implementation of standard training curricula.