Journal of surgical education
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To assess whether scholarly impact of academic ophthalmologists, as measured using the h-index, is affected by fellowship training status and to further characterize differences in productivity among the various subspecialties and by departmental rank. ⋯ Academic ophthalmologists with fellowship training have significantly higher scholarly output than non-fellowship-trained ophthalmologists do, as measured using the h-index. Research productivity increases with departmental academic rank from Assistant Professor to Professor.
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The goal of residency programs is to provide trainees with exposure to all aspects of their chosen field so that they exit the program ready to be independent practitioners. However, it is common in some plastic surgery residency training programs to exclude residents from participation in consultations with patients who are seeking cosmetic surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cosmetic surgery patients had a different view about resident involvement than reconstructive surgery patients and to evaluate what factors might be linked to patient attitudes on this topic. ⋯ Although there were some differences in the way resident participation was perceived by cosmetic and reconstructive surgery patient populations, neither group strongly believed that resident participation decreased the quality of patient care. Based on these findings, plastic surgery training programs should begin to allow residents to become more involved in the care of cosmetic surgery patients.
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A significant consequence of the 2003 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education duty hour restrictions has been the dramatic increase in patient care handoffs. Ineffective handoffs have been identified as the third most common cause of medical error. However, research into health care handoffs lacks a unifying foundational structure. We sought to identify a conceptual framework that could be used to critically analyze handoffs. ⋯ The Linear Model of Communication is a suitable conceptual framework for handoff research and provides a structured approach for describing handoff variables. We propose the Linear Model should be used as a foundation for further research into interventions to improve health care handoffs.
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To identify the timing and relative frequency of common postoperative complications in a contemporary, diverse surgical population and develop a mnemonic for teaching and clinical decision support. ⋯ We propose a mnemonic for postoperative complication timing and frequency, independent of fever, as follows: Waves (myocardial infarction), Wind (pneumonia), Water (urinary tract), Wound (sSSI and dSSI), and Walking (venous thromboembolism) in the order of likelihood.
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Using simulation to teach and assess learners represents a powerful approach to training, but one that comes with hidden costs in terms of faculty time, even if programs adopt existing curricula. Some simulators are built to be used independently by learners, but much of the surgical simulation curricula developed for cognitive and psychomotor tasks requires active faculty involvement and low learner-to-faculty teaching ratios to ensure sufficient practice with feedback. The authors hypothesize that the added teaching demands related to simulation have resulted in a significant financial burden to surgery training programs. To date, the effect of simulation-based training on faculty workload has not been estimated objectively and reported in the literature. ⋯ To avoid faculty burnout and successfully sustain faculty investment in simulation-based training over time, programs need to be creative in building, sustaining, and managing the instructor workforce.