Teaching, Mentorship, and Coaching in Surgical Education

Teaching and mentorship have a long history in surgical education, but with a growing focus on safety, quality improvement, and continuous professional development, it is clear that the current training system is inadequate. Challenges from changes in residency training, financial constraints, rapidly increasing knowledge, and limited faculty time due to increasing clinical, academic, and research demands require that new approaches are developed, including simulation and online resources. Although coaching is used effectively in other disciplines, surgical coaching remains relatively uncommon. Coaching encourages self-reflection using facilitated feedback individualized to each surgeon's needs and goals and can benefit surgeons at all levels.