LEGO^®-based communication assessment in virtual general surgery residency interviews

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Communication Skills Assessment

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial for surgeons, impacting patient outcomes.
• Residency programs seek to identify candidates with strong communication abilities.
• LEGO-based activities are recognized for enhancing team building and communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability and effectiveness of a new LEGO-based assessment for surgical residency interviews.
• To determine the feasibility of implementing this assessment in a virtual setting.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective analysis of a LEGO-based communication assessment used in 2020/2021 surgical residency interviews.
• Applicants completed different LEGO models, with scores analyzed for rater consistency and correlation with faculty interviews.
• Exploration of the impact of assessment structure, scoring, and model difficulty on total scores.

Main Results:

• The LEGO-based assessment demonstrated high inter-rater consistency for communication components.
• No significant impact of different models on total applicant scores was observed (p > 0.05).
• Significant differences were found between applicant groups in communication and model accuracy (p = 0.004), but total scores did not correlate with standardized faculty interviews.

Conclusions:

• The LEGO-based communication assessment is a reliable tool for evaluating surgical residency candidates.
• The assessment is suitable for virtual implementation, offering a practical solution for remote interviews.
• This novel method shows promise for assessing communication and problem-solving skills in residency selection.