How I Do It: Avoiding the Cognitive Trap Fundamentals of Surgery Curriculum

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Communication
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Surgeons often miss opportunities for connection by responding to emotional patient/family cues with purely cognitive or logistical information.
• This common communication pitfall is termed the "cognitive trap".

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the cognitive trap in surgical patient interactions.
• To introduce a novel, scenario-based educational tool for improving surgical trainees' ability to recognize and respond to patient and family emotions.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive report outlining a communication skill and a new training tool.
• The tool, a scenario-based card game, is integrated into the Fundamentals of Communication in Surgery (FCS) curriculum.
• Piloted in diverse general surgery residency programs across the United States.

Main Results:

• The card game facilitates practice in identifying emotional cues and formulating empathetic responses before addressing technical aspects.
• Facilitated group discussions enhance emotion recognition and provide real-time feedback.
• The tool increases awareness, supports deliberate practice, and improves fluency in emotionally attuned communication.

Conclusions:

• Avoiding the cognitive trap is a teachable skill crucial for enhancing therapeutic relationships in surgery.
• A scenario-based, gamified exercise provides a scalable method for teaching empathy-driven communication.
• This approach has been successfully integrated into a national surgical resident curriculum.