Learning surgical communication, leadership and teamwork through simulation

In Australia and New Zealand, surgical trainees are expected to develop competencies across 9 domains. Although structured training is provided in several domains, there is little or no formal program for professionalism, communication, collaboration, and management and leadership. The Australian federal Department of Health and Aging funded a pilot course in simulation-based education to address these competencies for surgical trainees. This article describes the course and evaluation.

Course development: Content and methods drew on best-evidence for teaching and learning these competencies from other disciplines. Course evaluation: Participants completed surveys using rating scales and free text comments to identify aspects of the course that worked well and those that needed improvement.

Eleven of 12 participants completed evaluation forms immediately after the course. Participants reported largely meeting learning objectives and valuing the educational methods. High levels of realism in simulations contributed to the ease with which participants immersed themselves in scenarios.

This study demonstrates that a course designed to teach competencies in communication, teamwork, leadership, and the encompassing professionalism to surgical trainees is feasible. Although participants valued the content and methods, they identified areas for development. Limitations of the evaluation are highlighted, and further areas for research are identified.