Madison Objective Self-Assessment Tool: A Reliable and User-Friendly Approach for Objective Self-Assessment in...

Area of Science:

• Microsurgery Training
• Surgical Skills Assessment
• Medical Education Technology

Background:

• Objective assessment is crucial for improving microsurgical skills.
• Existing assessment methods may lack objectivity, reliability, or ease of implementation.
• Trainees need tools for independent practice and self-evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an objective, reliable, and self-administered assessment tool for microsurgical laboratory training.
• To enable trainees to independently evaluate their microvascular anastomosis results.
• To establish a user-friendly method for self-driven skill development.

Main Methods:

• Eight trainees utilized the Baskaya Microvascular Bypass Training Curriculum.
• Trainees used the Madison Objective Self-Assessment Tool (MOST) to evaluate 31 end products twice.
• Expert evaluations were compared with trainee self-evaluations using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for intrarater and interrater reliability.

Main Results:

• The MOST demonstrated excellent to acceptable intrarater and interrater agreement (ICC >0.61) for most exercises.
• Fair (ICC=0.32) and moderate (ICC=0.52) agreement were noted in specific anastomosis types.
• Trainee feedback confirmed the tool's ease of use and minimal time requirement for evaluations.

Conclusions:

• The Madison Objective Self-Assessment Tool (MOST) is effective and reliable for self-evaluation in microvascular anastomosis training.
• The tool exhibits high agreement across most exercises and is user-friendly.
• MOST is suitable for self-directed training and assessment, particularly in resource-limited settings.