Journal of surgical education
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The operating room is a dynamic environment in which proper teamwork is essential. After piloting a simulation-based interdisciplinary operative team training program, we examined the impact of these sessions on the participants. ⋯ Implementing true interdisciplinary team training with a high-fidelity simulation can be accomplished effectively. Team training has the potential for facilitating positive behavioral changes in operating room personnel that are important for adaptive team function in a crisis situation.
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As laparoscopy continues to permeate general surgery, there is an increased need for residents to acquire advanced laparoscopic skills during a surgical training program. To underscore its importance, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recently increased the requirements for laparoscopy from 34 to 60 basic cases and from 0 to 25 advanced cases. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to assess the impact of an organized minimally invasive surgical service on the volume of advanced laparoscopic cases of a general surgery residency program. ⋯ The number of advanced laparoscopic cases per resident in this otherwise stable general surgery residency program substantially increased with the incorporation of a dedicated minimally invasive service led by a fellowship-trained laparoscopic surgeon. These data suggest that the volume increases needed to satisfy ACGME requirements may only be possible by creation of such a training experience dedicated to advanced laparoscopy.
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To design and implement a multidisciplinary systems-based practice learning experience that is focused on improving and standardizing the preoperative quality of care for general surgical patients. ⋯ Our multidisciplinary systems-based practice learning experience focused on improving and standardizing the preoperative quality of care for patients, and general surgery residents were pivotal participants in that process. This exercise had a positive impact on our general surgery residency education program and proved to be a valuable model of systems-based practice competency.
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Selection of surgical residents is accomplished by processes unique to each institution based on anecdotal observations, self-evident truisms, and programmatic objectives. By closely examining how surgical residents are selected, we sought to determine whether this process accurately predicted exceptional clinical performance of matriculated residents. ⋯ Compared with a previous 10-point composite scoring system, faculty evaluations of personal characteristics and letters of reference were likely to predict subsequent resident clinical performance. USMLE scores and academic grade performance were predictive of subsequent formalized testing such as ABSITE, but they were poorly predictive of resident clinical performance. The resident selection process can be streamlined.