Optimizing surgical education through the implementation of a feedback curriculum.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Residency Programs

Background:

• Work-hour restrictions impact surgical resident well-being but necessitate new training interventions.
• Ensuring adequate surgical resident training requires innovative approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply evidence supporting enhanced feedback by creating a feedback training curriculum.
• To improve the quality of feedback within a surgical residency program.

Main Methods:

• A general surgery residency program with 42 residents participated.
• The Kirkpatrick model was used for sequential surveys.
• Baseline attitudes towards feedback and training efficacy were assessed.

Main Results:

• Resident-reported effective faculty feedback increased from 23% to 54% post-training.
• Improvements were observed in constructive feedback and senior resident feedback quality.
• The study was limited by a small sample size.

Conclusions:

• Formal feedback training is essential for enhancing surgical faculty educational skills.
• Incorporating feedback training can improve the resident learning environment.