Intraoperative feedback: A survey of surgical trainees' perspective

Intraoperative feedback can be associated with improved surgical performance. Quality feedback can reduce the time required by trainees to achieve proficiency in psychomotor skills. Operative training time has become increasingly limited, and it has become imperative to use surgical training time effectively.

In this survey, we assessed trainees' perspectives of intraoperative feedback. We included several aspects of feedback including its occurrence, quality, and potential barriers.

All surgical trainees in a single centre were invited to complete an electronic questionnaire. Participants were anonymised. We summarised data using descriptive statistics.

Most trainees (85%) reported they had the opportunity to share their training goals with trainers. Just under three-quarters of trainees felt they always or sometimes got timely feedback. Only half of the trainees were signposted to feedback and 23% felt feedback was not part of their department's culture. Half of the trainees did not always feel comfortable asking for feedback from their trainers stating their reasons as fear of criticism, lack of time and competing clinical commitments.

There is no denying the importance of feedback on operative performance, however, this survey shows that many of the pillars of quality feedback are poorly adhered to.