Development of a peer review of operative teaching process and assessment tool

While teaching evaluation systems are common in academia, very little information is available regarding formal coaching and peer review of teaching performance in surgery. This article is a report on the development and implementation of a peer review of operative teaching program.

Our process was designed using a multistep sequential model which included developing a peer review of teaching instrument that was piloted to study the efficacy and utility of the tool.

Thirty-nine peer reviews of teaching were conducted. Among the most frequent challenges that faculty identified were allowing residents to struggle/give autonomy, judging when to take over the case, communicating effectively, being patient, balancing education and patient safety, and giving feedback.

Our peer review of teaching program is systematic, feasible, and can be adopted by other surgery departments. Faculty's identified strengths and challenges have been incorporated into our faculty development curricula.