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An objective assessment of surgical training
M A Potter1, J M Griffiths, R J Aitken
1Department of Surgery, Eastern General Hospital, Edinburgh.
Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
|January 1, 1996
Summary
Assessing surgical training using weighted workload is more objective than simple case counting. Routine data collection can effectively track trainee procedures and supervision levels.
Area of Science:
- Surgical Education
- Medical Informatics
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Traditional surgical training assessment relies on caseload (case counting).
- This method may not accurately reflect surgical skill development or complexity of procedures.
- Objective and reliable methods for evaluating surgical training are needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of using routine data for surgical training evaluation.
- To compare weighted workload with caseload for objectively assessing surgical training.
- To determine if weighted workload better reflects training complexity and trainee performance.
Main Methods:
- Prospectively collected surgical and endoscopic procedure data over six months.
- Calculated weighted workload using Intermediate Equivalent (IE) values.
- Compared IE workloads with simple caseload (case counting) for trainees and consultants.
Main Results:
- 1827 procedures were documented; Senior House Officers (SHOs) performed 35% and registrars 13%.
- Caseload comparison showed an SHO performing 224 procedures vs. a Senior Registrar (SR) performing 137.
- Weighted workload (IE) was 156 for the SHO and 166 for the SR, better reflecting the SR's complex cases.
Conclusions:
- Surgical training details are easily retrievable from administrative databases.
- Weighted workload provides a more objective assessment of surgical training than caseload.
- This approach can document procedure types, trainee volume, and supervision intensity.