Journal of surgical education
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Comparative Study
Racial and Ethnic Diversity of U.S. Plastic Surgery Trainees.
Increased diversity of U.S. physicians can improve patient communication and mitigate health disparities for racial minorities. This study analyzes trends in racial and ethnic diversity of plastic surgery residents. ⋯ Hispanics and African Americans are underrepresented in plastic surgery residency relative to whites and Asians. This study underscores the need for greater initiatives to increase diversity in plastic surgery residency.
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Fatal errors due to miscommunication among members of trauma teams are 2 to 4 times more likely to occur than in other medical teams, yet most trauma team members do not receive communication effectiveness training. A needs assessment was conducted to examine trauma team members' miscommunication experiences and research scientists' evaluations of live trauma activations. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that communication training is necessary and highlight specific team communication competencies that trauma teams should learn to improve communication during activations. ⋯ Communication training may be necessary for trauma teams and offer a deeper understanding of the communication competencies that should be addressed. The APRC-TA and APRC-LA both include team communication competencies that could be used as a guide to design training for trauma team members and leaders. Researchers should also continue to examine recommendations for improved team and leader communication during activations using in-depth interviews and focus groups.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of Canadian and Swiss Surgical Training Curricula: Moving on Toward Competency-Based Surgical Education.
Quality of surgical training in the era of resident duty-hour restrictions (RDHR) is part of an ongoing debate. Most training elements are provided during surgical service. As exposure to surgical procedures is important but time-consuming, RDHR may affect quality of surgical training. Providing structured training elements may help to compensate for this shortcoming. ⋯ Providing more structured surgical training elements may be advantageous in providing optimal-quality surgical education in an era of work-hour restrictions.
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Assessment tools that accrue data for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestones must evaluate residents across multiple dimensions, including medical knowledge, procedural skills, teaching, and professionalism. Our objectives were to: (1) develop an assessment tool to evaluate resident performance in accordance with the Milestones and (2) review trends in resident achievements during the inaugural year of Milestone implementation. ⋯ Assessment tools developed to assist with Milestone assignments capture the growth of residents over time and demonstrate quantifiable differences in achievements between PGY classes. These tools will allow for targeted teaching opportunities for both individual residents and residency programs.
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Many institutions use social media to share research with the general public. However, the influence of social media on the dissemination of a surgical research article itself is unknown. Our objective was to determine whether a blog post highlighting the findings of a surgical research article would lead to increased dissemination of the article itself. ⋯ Social media is an important tool for sharing surgical research. Our data suggest that social media can increase distribution of an article's message and also potentially increase dissemination of the article itself. We believe that authors should consider using social media to increase the dissemination of traditionally published articles.