PGY-specific benchmarks improve resident performance on Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery tasks

Although expert proficiency times for Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) tasks exist, these times are not always attainable for junior residents. We hypothesize that post-graduate year (PGY)-specific benchmarks will improve resident performance of FLS tasks.

In 2014, PGY-specific benchmarks were developed for FLS tasks for PGY1-PGY4 general surgery residents by averaging completion times for each task from 2007 to 2013. Resident performance on each FLS task and overall performance was compared for PGY1-PGY4 residents in the 2007-2013 group and the 2014-2016 group, before and after implementation of PGY-specific benchmarks.

There was a significant improvement in FLS performance in the 2014-2016 group at the PGY1 (p = 0.01), PGY2 (p < 0.01), and PGY3 (p = 0.01) levels, but no difference at the PGY4 level (p = 0.71).

PGY-specific benchmarks may improve efficacy of laparoscopic skills training for junior residents, increasing the efficiency of skill development.