Resident Individual Clinical Evaluations: Resident Perspectives And Effectiveness

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Medical Training Assessment

Background:

• Senior surgical residents require preparation for independent practice and board certification exams, such as the ABS Certifying Exam (ABSCE).
• The resident Individual Clinical Evaluations (rICE) is a low-cost tool designed to assess residents' clinical judgment in level-appropriate scenarios and aid ABSCE preparation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate surgical residents' perceived utility of the rICE curriculum.
• To present the curricular components of rICE.
• To compare mock oral and ABSCE pass rates between residents who participated in rICE and those who did not.

Main Methods:

• PGY1-3 surgical residents completed three level-appropriate rICE sessions per academic year with immediate feedback.
• A post-rICE survey assessed residents' perceived curriculum utility using a mixed-methods approach.
• ABSCE and mock oral pass rates were compared between rICE participants and non-participants.

Main Results:

• 102 post-rICE surveys indicated high resident satisfaction, with 81.37% feeling better prepared, 87.25% finding it an outstanding learning experience, and 85.29% recommending it.
• rICE participants showed a 44% absolute increase in ABSCE pass rates (p≈0.01) compared to non-participants.
• Mock oral pass rates trended towards significance (p≈0.06) with an increase over time for rICE participants.

Conclusions:

• Residents reported a favorable impression of rICE, highlighting its adaptability, implementability, and utility for self-reflection on knowledge and presentation skills.
• The rICE curriculum is sustainable, low-resource intensive, and provides early exposure to clinical evaluations.
• Participation in rICE was associated with improved ABSCE pass rates and potentially improved mock oral pass rates.