Development and assessment of a simulation-based curriculum in pediatric surgical education: Conventional wisdom and...

Traditional training in pediatric surgery has focused on knowledge acquisition and technical skills. Although recognized as important, the skills relating to communication, collaboration, leadership, management, health advocacy and professionalism have received less formal attention. Recognition of the importance of these softer skills in combination with the greater use of simulation in education prompted us to develop a national simulation-based curriculum in pediatric surgery. This paper describes the development, implementation and three-year follow-up of the mandatory, simulation-based curriculum for pediatric surgery residents in France. We review the available literature on the topic and present our results.