Formalizing the Hidden Curriculum of Performance Enhancing Errors

Despite its inevitability, error remains an uncomfortable topic for discussion amongst surgeons. There are a range of reasons cited for this; significantly, there is an inextricable link between a surgeon's actions and their patient's outcomes. Attempts to reflect on error are often unstructured and without a defined end point, and modern surgical curricula lack content to guide residents' learning on recognizing and reflecting on sentinel events. There is a need to develop a tool to guide a standardized, safe, and constructive response to error. The current educational paradigm revolves around error avoidance. However, there is an evolving evidence base surrounding the inclusion of error management theory (EMT) into surgical training. This method explores and incorporates positive discussions surrounding errors, and has been demonstrated to improve long-term skill acquisition and training outcomes. We must harness the performance enhancing effects of our errors in the same way we do our successes. Implicated in all surgical performance is human factors science/ergonomics (HFE) - the interface between psychology, engineering, and performance. Developing a national HFE curriculum in the context of EMT would provide a common language to facilitate objective reflections regarding surgeons' operative performance and manage the stigma associated with fallibility.