Improving Satisfaction With Operating Room Feedback: An Effective, Low-Profile, No-Cost Intervention

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Effective feedback is crucial for surgical resident development.
• Current methods for intraoperative feedback often lack structure and consistency.
• Enhancing formative feedback can improve learning outcomes in the operating room.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a tool to improve formative and goal-specific feedback for general surgery residents.
• To assess the impact of a low-cost, minimally invasive intervention on feedback quality and resident satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• Installed feedback reminder placards at scrub sinks in four hospitals.
• Faculty and residents were prompted to establish learning goals preoperatively, teach/learn during the case, and debrief postoperatively.
• Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered to residents and faculty.

Main Results:

• Residents reported significant increases in preoperative goal discussion, postoperative debriefing, and overall feedback satisfaction (p < 0.01).
• Faculty reported no significant change in their perception of feedback quality or frequency of discussions.
• Faculty consistently reported higher rates of feedback practices compared to residents.

Conclusions:

• Feedback reminder placards are a low-profile, cost-effective intervention to enhance resident satisfaction with operative feedback.
• The intervention successfully increased resident-perceived goal-specific feedback discussions pre- and postoperatively.
• Targeted interventions can improve the resident learning experience in surgical training.