National undergraduate surgical learning objectives: the NUSLO project

The Canadian Undergraduate Surgical Education Committee (CUSEC) undertook a project to address variance in undergraduate surgical learning objectives among Canada's medical schools. Its aim was to compile a reasonable set of national undergraduate surgical learning objectives (NUSLOs) for all medical undergraduates and map them to the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) objectives. In phase 1, CUSEC invited Canada's 10 surgical specialty societies or associations to identify discipline-specific lists of undergraduate surgical learning objectives deemed essential for all Canada's medical students to achieve by the time of graduation. In phase 2, 8 medical students and 7 CUSEC faculty from 6 Canadian universities mapped each individual NUSLO to the corresponding MCC objectives, then to primary and secondary MCC objectives. By 2023, all 10 surgical specialty societies had derived, ratified, and submitted their discipline-specific NUSLOs, for a total of 72 major objectives, some of which had sub-objectives. All phase 1 NUSLOs were mapped to corresponding MCC objectives, with each NUSLO mapping to an average of 18 MCC objectives. Each NUSLO was then tiered to 1-2 primary MCC objectives. The NUSLOs and the NUSLO-MCC maps, now publicly posted on the CUSEC website, may serve as a foundational reference for students and teachers. They are a means by which Canada's medical schools can customize, standardize, and revise their undergraduate surgical curricula.