Defining quality assessment in vascular surgery training: an expert Delphi process

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training Assessment
• Quality Improvement in Healthcare

Background:

• Standardizing vascular surgical training is crucial for optimizing patient care.
• Current methods for assessing training require robust and reproducible evaluation frameworks.
• This study addresses the need for a standardized approach to quality assurance in UK vascular surgery training programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and prioritize essential domains for assessing the quality of vascular surgery training programs.
• To develop a methodology for regional quality assurance reports supporting the Vascular Surgery Specialty Advisory Committee.
• To establish a consensus on key performance indicators for surgical training.

Main Methods:

• A three-stage Delphi consensus exercise involving 54 stakeholders.
• Participants included trainees, program directors, and members of specialty advisory and society committees.
• The process spanned 15 weeks to achieve expert agreement on training assessment domains.

Main Results:

• 39 stakeholders successfully completed the Delphi process.
• Identified key domains include JCST survey results, clinical experience, education programs, radiology support, and trainee/trainer support.
• Other critical domains encompass professional development, teaching quality, and trainee recommendations.

Conclusions:

• A consensus-based methodology was developed to identify and prioritize domains for assessing vascular surgery training quality.
• The identified domains are internationally transferable, offering a model for global application.
• The Delphi methodology can be adapted by other training schemes to refine and enhance their quality assessment processes.