Journal of surgical education
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"Grit" can be defined as the passion and perseverance for long-term goals, and it can be measured by a validated scale. It has been associated with success in diverse fields such as basic military training and spelling tests. Surgical training is arduous with large number of trainees reporting burnout, and it could be expected that grit is a fundamental requirement to complete training. This study aimed to examine the relationship of grit in surgical training, whether grit varies by grade of surgeon, and the association of grit with burnout. ⋯ These findings reinforce the concept that grit is fundamentally important to completion of surgical training. In addition, grittier individuals are more likely to resist burnout than their less gritty counterparts. These findings carry implications for retention and recruitment of trainee surgeons, and further study is required to investigate whether surgical training influences grit levels or selects out the grittiest trainees to survive to completion.
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The shift toward competency-based medical education has created a demand for feasible workplace-based assessment tools. Perhaps, more important than competence to assess an individual patient is the ability to successfully manage a surgical clinic. Trainee performance in clinic is a critical component of learning to manage a surgical practice, yet no assessment tool currently exists to assess daily performance in outpatient clinics for surgery residents. The development of a competency-based assessment tool, the Ottawa Clinic Assessment Tool (OCAT), is described here to address this gap. ⋯ Multiple sources of validity evidence collected in this study demonstrate that the OCAT can measure resident clinic competency in a valid and feasible manner.
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Observational Study
Hyper-Realistic, Team-Centered Fleet Surgical Team Training Provides Sustained Improvements in Performance.
The high-stress, fast-paced environment of combat casualty care relies on effective teamwork and communication which translates into quality patient care. A training course was developed for U.S. Navy Fleet Surgical Teams to address these aspects of patient care by emphasizing efficiency and appropriate patient care. An effective training course provides knowledge and skills to pass the course evaluation and sustain the knowledge and skills acquired over time. ⋯ This course showed value in improving teamwork and communication skills of participants, immediately upon completion of the course, and after 5 months had passed. Therefore, with ongoing sustainment activities within 6 months, this course can substantially improve trauma care provided by shipboard deployed Navy medical personnel to wounded service members.
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To determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a learner-created virtual patient (VP) curriculum for postgraduate year 2 surgical residents. ⋯ Despite the fact that a learner-created VP curriculum did not improve scores on a mock in training examination, residents viewed this intervention as a valuable educational experience. Although there were barriers to the implementation of a learner-created curriculum, it is nonetheless important to try and integrate pedagogical concepts into the instructional design of curricula for surgical residents.