Perception does not equal reality for resident vascular trauma skills.

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Trauma Surgery
• Vascular Surgery

Background:

• Limited experience in vascular trauma management among senior surgical residents.
• Residents report high confidence in vascular anatomy and exposure techniques.
• Hypothesis: Perceived competence may not reflect actual skill levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the discrepancy between senior surgical residents' self-perceived confidence and objective performance in vascular trauma procedures.
• To evaluate residents' understanding of anatomy and ability to perform key vascular exposures.

Main Methods:

• 42 senior surgical residents self-assessed confidence using a Likert scale before a trauma course.
• Residents performed axillary, brachial, femoral artery exposures, and lower extremity fasciotomy on cadavers.
• Expert evaluators scored residents' anatomic knowledge and procedural readiness in real-time.

Main Results:

• Residents consistently overestimated their anatomic knowledge and procedural skills compared to expert scores.
• Evaluators found residents would require assistance 65%-86% of the time for these procedures.
• Significant disparity between self-assessment and objective performance was observed.

Conclusions:

• Senior residents are inadequately prepared for critical vascular trauma procedures.
• A significant gap exists between residents' perceived and actual competence.
• Findings necessitate urgent curricular reform and enhanced evaluation in surgical training programs.