Identifying Intraoperative Behaviors Associated With Surgical Resident Teachability

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Medical Training
• Resident Education

Background:

• The resident-attending dyad is critical for surgical training.
• Understanding trainee "teachability" is key to optimizing intraoperative learning.
• Teachability is hypothesized to combine observed skills, behaviors, and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define "teachability" in surgical residents.
• To identify specific intraoperative behaviors contributing to teachability.
• To explore the relationship between active learning and teachability.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative review of 26 recorded laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs.
• Analysis of intraoperative behaviors of two general surgery residents (PGY-5).
• Summative content analysis to link behaviors with teachability and performance scores.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in overall intraoperative behaviors between residents.
• One resident asked more questions, but the other incorporated feedback more effectively.
• The resident who consistently incorporated feedback achieved higher performance scores.

Conclusions:

• Teachability is dynamic and influenced by the resident-attending interaction.
• Active learning behaviors like asking questions may enhance performance improvement.
• Real-time incorporation of feedback is a critical component of teachability.