Does Resident Trauma Exposure Affect Advanced Trauma Operative Management Course Experience?

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Trauma Surgery Training

Background:

• Operative trauma exposure is declining for surgical residents.
• The educational impact of the Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM) course based on resident trauma exposure is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the educational benefits of the ATOM course for residents trained in trauma versus nontrauma centers.
• To assess if residents from trauma centers benefit less from the ATOM course compared to those from nontrauma centers.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study analyzing pre- and post-course evaluations of knowledge and self-efficacy.
• Inclusion of 134 surgical residents from two trauma centers and one nontrauma center.
• Data collection spanned from October 2007 to June 2013.

Main Results:

• All resident groups demonstrated statistically significant improvements in knowledge and self-efficacy post-ATOM course (P < 0.0001).
• No significant differences in the degree of improvement were observed between residents from trauma and nontrauma centers.
• Pre- and post-course scores and overall improvement were comparable across groups with varying trauma exposure.

Conclusions:

• The ATOM course provides significant educational benefits to all surgical residents, irrespective of their clinical trauma experience.
• Simulation-based training like ATOM is valuable for maintaining surgical skills in an era of decreasing operative trauma exposure.
• The ATOM course effectively enhances surgical residents' knowledge and self-efficacy in managing traumatic injuries.