Residents can successfully teach basic surgical skills in the simulation center
Luise I M Pernar1, Douglas S Smink, Gloria Hicks
1Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. lpernar@partners.org
Journal of Surgical Education
|August 23, 2012
Summary
Senior surgical residents can effectively teach basic surgical skills to interns, comparable to faculty instruction. This finding expands the instructor pool for simulation centers and offers teaching experience for residents.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Training
- Simulation-Based Learning
Background:
- Surgical interns require foundational skills training in simulation centers.
- Faculty recruitment for surgical simulation teaching can be challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of senior surgical residents as instructors for basic surgical skills.
- To determine if residents can provide an alternative to faculty-led surgical skills instruction.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 28 surgical interns.
- Interns were taught basic surgical skills by either faculty or senior residents in 2-hour sessions.
- Skills and confidence were assessed pre- and post-intervention using validated measures.
Main Results:
- Both faculty and resident-led teaching improved interns' knot-tying, running suture, and subcuticular suture performance.
- Intern confidence in knot-tying tasks increased significantly in both groups.
- While both groups showed similar improvements in speed and accuracy, faculty instruction showed a statistically significant improvement in simple suturing speed (p=0.04).
Conclusions:
- Senior surgical residents are effective educators of basic surgical skills.
- Resident-led instruction offers a viable solution to faculty shortages in simulation centers.
- This approach enhances the available teaching pool and provides valuable teaching experience for senior residents.
