Colonoscopy performance correlates with scores on the FES™ manual skills test

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Flexible endoscopy proficiency is crucial for general surgery training.
• The Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES™) exam assesses essential knowledge and skills.
• Validating assessment tools is vital for ensuring competency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide further evidence for the validity of the FES™ hands-on test.
• To correlate clinical colonoscopy performance with FES™ scores.
• To evaluate the FES™ test as a measure of flexible endoscopy skills.

Main Methods:

• General surgery residents, gastroenterology fellows, and attending physicians participated.
• Live colonoscopies and FES™ hands-on tests were performed within two weeks.
• Clinical performance was assessed using the Global Assessment of Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Skills-Colonoscopy (GAGES-C), and FES™ scores were computer-generated.

Main Results:

• A strong positive correlation (r=0.78, p<0.0001) was found between GAGES-C and FES™ scores.
• The study included participants with diverse endoscopy experience levels.
• Eight participants scoring above 15/20 on GAGES-C passed the FES™ hands-on test.

Conclusions:

• Clinical colonoscopy performance is strongly associated with FES™ hands-on test scores.
• The FES™ hands-on test is a valid measure of colonoscopy skills.
• These findings support the FES™ examination's role in surgical education.