Implementation of a New Surgeon Onboarding Program in an Academic-affiliated Community Hospital

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Established best practices for onboarding contrast with suboptimal surgeon introductions to new practice environments.
• Increased regionalization and hospital alignments necessitate surgeons practicing across diverse sites with varying resources and cultures.
• This creates a growing challenge for ensuring surgeon readiness and patient safety during practice transitions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a surgeon onboarding program within an academic-affiliated community hospital setting.
• To evaluate the feasibility, adherence, user satisfaction, and impact on preparedness of the implemented program.

Main Methods:

• A dedicated surgeon onboarding program was designed and implemented.
• Key metrics including process adherence, user satisfaction, and preparedness to practice were assessed.
• The program was piloted in an academic-affiliated community hospital.

Main Results:

• The pilot program demonstrated excellent adherence to its established processes.
• High levels of user satisfaction were reported by participating surgeons.
• Significant improvements in surgeons' preparedness to practice in the new setting were observed.

Conclusions:

• Robust surgeon onboarding is feasible and achievable through local implementation.
• Such programs can be readily implemented by local teams to ensure safe transitions for surgeons.
• This initiative promotes enhanced safety and efficiency for surgeons moving between practice settings.