Feedback activities of instructors during a trauma surgery course

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Healthcare Simulation

Background:

• Faculty development in surgical training is crucial for effective skill transfer.
• Current methods for evaluating faculty feedback and instruction in acute trauma surgery are limited.
• A novel observational feedback instrument was developed to assess coaching quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the quality and quantity of faculty feedback and instruction during acute trauma surgery team training.
• To assess the utility of a newly designed observational feedback instrument in analyzing coaching behaviors.
• To identify patterns in faculty feedback and instruction related to technical and nontechnical skills.

Main Methods:

• Video and audio recordings of 11 operating teams (1 instructor, 2 trainees) during standardized acute trauma scenarios.
• Analysis of 45-minute training sessions using a new observational feedback instrument.
• Categorization of feedback and instruction based on specificity and skill type (technical vs. nontechnical).

Main Results:

• Faculty provided significantly more instruction (25.8 ± 10.6 instances) than feedback (4.4 ± 3.5 instances).
• The majority of feedback and instruction was nonspecific, focusing primarily on technical skills.
• Communication skills received more specific feedback compared to other nontechnical skills.

Conclusions:

• Faculty coaching in acute trauma surgery is characterized by a predominance of nonspecific instructions targeting technical skills.
• The developed observational feedback instrument proved effective in quantifying and scoring faculty coaching activities.
• Findings highlight a need for enhancing the specificity of feedback and instruction in surgical training programs.