Training technical or non-technical skills: an arbitrary distinction? A scoping review.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Skills Assessment
• Patient Safety Research

Background:

• Medical education frequently targets technical skills (TS) and non-technical skills (NTS) independently.
• The interplay between TS and NTS and their collective impact on patient safety remains underexplored.
• Existing research often investigates these skill sets in isolation, limiting understanding of their relationship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review investigating the association between technical skills (TS) and non-technical skills (NTS).
• To synthesize current literature on the relationship between TS and NTS in medical education.
• To identify common assessment tools and methodological approaches for evaluating TS and NTS.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive scoping review of four major databases was performed.
• Studies were systematically identified, screened, and analyzed to collate findings.
• Included studies were assessed for publication date, study design, and assessment tools used.

Main Results:

• Out of 2676 identified studies, 203 were included, with most published in the last decade.
• Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) and Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS) were the most validated tools for TS and NTS, respectively.
• A positive correlation between TS and NTS was found in 40 out of 46 studies that assessed this relationship.

Conclusions:

• A significant positive correlation exists between technical skills and non-technical skills in healthcare professionals.
• Proficiency in non-technical skills is associated with strong technical skill performance, challenging their separation in training.
• Limited methodological rigor in current research highlights a need for deeper investigation into NTS assessment and their interaction with TS.