Video feedback with error-focused or correct-focused examples in surgical skills distance learning: A randomized...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Skill Acquisition

Background:

• Traditional surgical training often relies on demonstrating correct procedures.
• However, evidence suggests error-focused examples may enhance skill learning and error detection.
• This study investigated the efficacy of error-focused versus correct-focused video feedback in surgical education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of error-focused video feedback versus correct-focused video feedback on surgical procedural learning.
• To determine if error-focused feedback improves procedural task performance more than correct-focused feedback.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial was conducted with general surgery residency program interviewees.
• Participants performed baseline suturing and knot-tying tasks, receiving either error-focused or correct-focused video feedback based on identified errors.
• Post-intervention performances were assessed by blinded raters.

Main Results:

• The error-focused feedback group showed significantly higher post-intervention performance scores in both suturing and knot-tying tasks compared to the correct-focused group.
• No significant differences in performance time were observed between the groups.
• Participant satisfaction with the feedback was similar across both groups.

Conclusions:

• Feedback emphasizing errors leads to better learning of surgical skills than feedback demonstrating correct performance.
• Error-focused feedback is a more effective pedagogical tool for improving procedural learning in surgical trainees.
• These findings support the hypothesis that error-focused examples enhance skill acquisition in surgical education.