Team-based simulations for new surgeons: Does early and often make a difference?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Simulation-Based Learning

Background:

• Work hour restrictions and expanded requirements reduce surgical resident time on critical rotations like trauma.
• There is a need to maintain and improve resident competency in high-acuity surgical fields.
• This study addresses the challenge of providing effective training in trauma surgery for early-career residents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a novel team-based trauma curriculum for first-year surgical residents (PGY1).
• To determine if simulation-based training improves clinical performance in trauma and acute care surgery.
• To assess the impact of the curriculum on resident teamwork and communication skills.

Main Methods:

• Postgraduate year 1 residents completed a team-based trauma simulation curriculum after Advanced Trauma Life Support certification.
• Simulations focused on trauma management, teamwork, and communication, followed by video-based debriefing.
• Clinical performance was assessed using faculty evaluations and compared to historical cohorts without simulation training.

Main Results:

• The 2015 intern cohort, which participated in the simulation curriculum, achieved significantly higher faculty performance ratings (4.35 ± 0.68).
• Ratings for the 2015 cohort were statistically significantly better than those of the 2013 (3.55 ± 0.56) and 2014 (3.50 ± 0.57) cohorts.
• No significant performance difference was found between the 2013 and 2014 cohorts who did not undergo simulation training.

Conclusions:

• Trauma-focused simulation training demonstrably improved the clinical performance ratings of PGY1 residents.
• The team-based curriculum is a feasible and beneficial educational strategy for surgical residents.
• Simulation-based curricula should be considered for enhancing surgical resident competency in critical care settings.