Browsing by Subject "Surgical education"
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item An Online, Modular Curriculum Enhances Surgical Education and Improves Learning Outcomes in East, Central, and Southern Africa: A Mixed-Methods Study(Wolters Kluwer, 2022-03-02) Parker, Andrea S.; Steffes, Bruce C.; Hill, Katherine; Bachheta, Niraj; Mangaoang, Deirdre; Mwachiro, Michael; Torbeck, Laura; White, Russell E.; Bekele, Abebe; Parker, Robert K.; Surgery, School of MedicineObjective: We aimed to determine the impact of a standardized curriculum on learning outcomes for surgical trainees in East, Central, and Southern Africa (ECSA). Background: As surgical education expands throughout ECSA, there is a recognized need for a standardized curriculum. We previously described the design of a novel, large-scale, flipped-classroom, surgical curriculum for trainees in ECSA. Methods: In January 2020, the first year of curricular content for trainees of the College of Surgeons of ECSA was released, containing 11 monthly thematic topics, each with 2 to 5 weekly modular subtopics. We aimed to evaluate 3 outcomes utilizing data sources incorporated into the curriculum structure. Learner engagement was assessed by the number of trainees completing curriculum topics. User experience was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative feedback responses to embedded surveys for each content week. Curriculum impact on trainee examination performance was assessed by comparing certification examination scores stratified by the number of curricular topics each trainee completed. Results: Two hundred seventy-one trainees (96%) in 17 countries accessed at least 1 weekly module. Trainees completed a median of 9 topics (interquartile range: 6-10). The feedback survey response rate was 92% (5742/6233). Quantitative and qualitative responses were positive in overall module value (93.7% + 2.6%), amount of learning experienced (97.9% + 1.4%), confidence in achieving learning objectives (97.1% + 2.4%), and ease of use of the module (77.6% + 5.98%). Topic-related certification examination performance improved significantly with increased completion of thematic topics. Conclusions: A standardized surgical curriculum in ECSA demonstrated excellent trainee usage, positive feedback, and improved examination scores.Item Characteristics of cardiothoracic surgeons practicing at the top-ranked US institutions(AME, 2016-11) Rosati, Carlo Maria; Koniaris, Leonidas G; Molena, Daniela; Blitzer, David; Su, Katherine W.; Tahboub, Mohammad; Vardas, Panos N.; Girardi, Leonard N.; Gaudino, Mario; Department of Surgery, IU School of MedicineBACKGROUND: We aimed to determine which factors distinguish cardiothoracic (CT) surgeons practicing at the top-ranked US institutions from their peers. METHODS: Using online resources, we collected demographics, training information and academic metrics of 694 cardiac (n=489; 70%) and thoracic (n=205; 30%) surgeons practicing at 57 preeminent US institutions, including those with the highest US News & World Report ranking ("top CT centers"). RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety-nine (43.1%) CT surgeons were practicing at the 18 "top CT centers" and had higher academic productivity (publications, citations) than their peers. While there was no difference in the proportion of international medical graduates (IMGs) (21.4% overall) or of surgeons with a PhD degree (9.4% overall) across institutions, the "top CT centers" had a higher proportion of faculty who received their entire CT training abroad (10.4% vs. 5.8%; P=0.038) or at highly-ranked US institutions. Those who published more during their early career years (residency, fellowship and first 5 years as faculty) were more likely to attain academic (professorship) and institutional leadership (division/department chair) positions and to practice at the "top CT centers". Women represented a minority (7.3% overall; 5.1% of cardiac vs. 12.7% of thoracic surgeons, P<0.001), but with growing prevalence among younger faculty and without differences across institutions. CONCLUSIONS: CT surgeons of the best US centers have a more international background and received their training at highly-ranked institutions. Early academic productivity is associated with life-long career achievements, with special importance of the first 5 years as faculty. Women represent a growing proportion of the CT surgical workforce.Item Design of a Novel Online, Modular, Flipped-classroom Surgical Curriculum for East, Central, and Southern Africa(Wolters Kluwer, 2022-03-02) Parker, Andrea S.; Hill, Katherine A.; Steffes, Bruce C.; Mangaoang, Deirdre; O'Flynn, Eric; Bachheta, Niraj; Bates, Maria F.; Bitta, Caesar; Carter, Nicholas H.; Davis, Richard E.; Dressler, Jeremy A.; Eisenhut, Deborah A.; Fadipe, Akinniyi E.; Kanyi, John K.; Kauffmann, Rondi M.; Kazal, Frances; Kyamanywa, Patrick; Lando, Justus O.; Many, Heath R.; Mbithi, Valentine C.; McCoy, Amanda J.; Meade, Peter C.; Ndegwa, Wairimu Y. B.; Nkusi, Emmy A.; Ooko, Philip B.; Osilli, Dixon J. S.; Parker, Madison E. D.; Rankeeti, Sinkeet; Shafer, Katherine; Smith, James D.; Snyder, David; Sylvester, Kimutai R.; Wakeley, Michelle E.; Wekesa, Marvin K.; Torbeck, Laura; White, Russell E.; Bekele, Abebe; Parker, Robert K.; Surgery, School of MedicineObjective: We describe a structured approach to developing a standardized curriculum for surgical trainees in East, Central, and Southern Africa (ECSA). Summary background data: Surgical education is essential to closing the surgical access gap in ECSA. Given its importance for surgical education, the development of a standardized curriculum was deemed necessary. Methods: We utilized Kern's 6-step approach to curriculum development to design an online, modular, flipped-classroom surgical curriculum. Steps included global and targeted needs assessments, determination of goals and objectives, the establishment of educational strategies, implementation, and evaluation. Results: Global needs assessment identified the development of a standardized curriculum as an essential next step in the growth of surgical education programs in ECSA. Targeted needs assessment of stakeholders found medical knowledge challenges, regulatory requirements, language variance, content gaps, expense and availability of resources, faculty numbers, and content delivery method to be factors to inform curriculum design. Goals emerged to increase uniformity and consistency in training, create contextually relevant material, incorporate best educational practices, reduce faculty burden, and ease content delivery and updates. Educational strategies centered on developing an online, flipped-classroom, modular curriculum emphasizing textual simplicity, multimedia components, and incorporation of active learning strategies. The implementation process involved establishing thematic topics and subtopics, the content of which was authored by regional surgeon educators and edited by content experts. Evaluation was performed by recording participation, soliciting user feedback, and evaluating scores on a certification examination. Conclusions: We present the systematic design of a large-scale, context-relevant, data-driven surgical curriculum for the ECSA region.Item Development and validation of an objective scoring tool to evaluate surgical dissection: Dissection Assessment for Robotic Technique (DART)(American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc., 2021) Vanstrum, Erik B.; Ma, Runzhuo; Maya-Silva, Jacqueline; Sanford, Daniel; Nguyen, Jessica H.; Lei, Xiaomeng; Chevinksy, Michael; Ghoreifi, Alireza; Han, Jullet; Polotti, Charles F.; Powers, Ryan; Yip, Wesley; Zhang, Michael; Aron, Monish; Collins, Justin; Daneshmand, Siamak; Davis, John W.; Desai, Mihir M.; Gerjy, Roger; Goh, Alvin C.; Kimmig, Rainer; Lendvay, Thomas S.; Porter, James; Sotelo, Rene; Sundaram, Chandru P.; Cen, Steven; Gill, Inderbir S.; Hung, Andrew J.; Urology, School of MedicinePurpose: Evaluation of surgical competency has important implications for training new surgeons, accreditation, and improving patient outcomes. A method to specifically evaluate dissection performance does not yet exist. This project aimed to design a tool to assess surgical dissection quality. Methods: Delphi method was used to validate structure and content of the dissection evaluation. A multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary panel of 14 expert surgeons systematically evaluated each element of the dissection tool. Ten blinded reviewers evaluated 46 de-identified videos of pelvic lymph node and seminal vesicle dissections during the robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Inter-rater variability was calculated using prevalence-adjusted and bias-adjusted kappa. The area under the curve from receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess discrimination power for overall DART scores as well as domains in discriminating trainees (≤100 robotic cases) from experts (>100). Results: Four rounds of Delphi method achieved language and content validity in 27/28 elements. Use of 3- or 5-point scale remained contested; thus, both scales were evaluated during validation. The 3-point scale showed improved kappa for each domain. Experts demonstrated significantly greater total scores on both scales (3-point, p< 0.001; 5-point, p< 0.001). The ability to distinguish experience was equivalent for total score on both scales (3-point AUC= 0.92, CI 0.82-1.00, 5-point AUC= 0.92, CI 0.83-1.00). Conclusions: We present the development and validation of Dissection Assessment for Robotic Technique (DART), an objective and reproducible 3-point surgical assessment to evaluate tissue dissection. DART can effectively differentiate levels of surgeon experience and can be used in multiple surgical steps.Item Emotional Regulation in Surgery: Fostering Well-Being, Performance, and Leadership(Elsevier, 2022-09) Greenberg, Anya L.; Sullins, Veronica F.; Donahue, Timothy R.; Sundaram, Varuna M.; Saldinger, Pierre F.; Divino, Celia M.; Anton, Nicholas E.; Stefanidis, Dimitrios; Reilly, Linda M.; Egan, Richard J.; Beals, Col Kristen J.; Riall, Taylor S.; Duh, Quan-Yang; Mukhtar, Rita A.; Hirose, Kenzo; Lebares, Carter C.; Surgery, School of MedicineEmotional regulation is increasingly gaining acceptance as a means to improve well-being, performance, and leadership across high-stakes professions, representing innovation in thinking within the field of surgical education. As one part of a broader cognitive skill set that can be trained and honed, emotional regulation has a strong evidence base in high-stress, high-performance fields. Nevertheless, even as Program Directors and surgical educators have become increasingly aware of this data, with emerging evidence in the surgical education literature supporting efficacy, hurdles to sustainable implementation exist. In this white paper, we present evidence supporting the value of emotional regulation training in surgery and share case studies in order to illustrate practical steps for the development, adaptation, and implementation of emotional regulation curricula in three key developmental contexts: basic cognitive skills training, technical skills acquisition and performance, and preparation for independence. We focus on the practical aspects of each case to elucidate the challenges and opportunities of introducing and adopting a curricular innovation into surgical education. We propose an integrated curriculum consisting of all three applied contexts for emotional regulation skills and advocate for the dissemination of such a longitudinal curriculum on a national level.Item National Cancer Institute Centers and Society of Surgical Oncology Cancer Research Synergy(Elsevier, 2020-04-01) Kim, Bradford J.; Misra, Subhasis; Chen, Herbert; Bell, Teresa M.; Koniaris, Leonidas G.; Valsangkar, Nakul P.; Surgery, School of MedicineBackground: The objective of this study was to examine the influence of Surgical Society Oncology (SSO) membership and National Cancer Institute (NCI) status on the academic output of surgical faculty. Methods: NCI cancer program status for each department of surgery was identified with publically available data, whereas SSO membership was determined for every faculty member. Academic output measures such as NIH funding, publications, and citations were analyzed in subsets by the type of cancer center (NCI comprehensive cancer center [CCC]; NCI cancer center [NCICC]; and non-NCI center) and SSO membership status. Results: Of the surgical faculty, 2537 surgeons (61.9%) were from CCC, whereas 854 (20.8%) were from NCICC. At the CCC, 22.7% of surgeons had a history of or current NIH funding, compared with 15.8% at the NCICC and 11.8% at the non-NCI centers. The academic output of SSO members was higher at NCICC (52 ± 113 publications/1266 ± 3830 citations) and CCC (53 ± 92/1295 ± 4001) compared with nonmembers (NCICC: 26 ± 78/437 ± 2109; CCC: 37 ± 91/670 ± 3260), respectively, P < 0.05. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that SSO membership imparts an additional 22 publications and 270 citations, whereas NCI-designated CCC added 10 additional publications, but not citations. Conclusions: CCCs have significantly higher academic output and NIH funding. Recruitment of SSO members, a focus on higher performing divisions, and NIH funding are factors that non-NCI cancer centers may be able to focus on to improve academic productivity to aid in obtaining NCI designation.Item Utilising an Accelerated Delphi Process to Develop Guidance and Protocols for Telepresence Applications in Remote Robotic Surgery Training(Elsevier, 2020-12) Collins, Justin W.; Ghazi, Ahmed; Stoyanov, Danail; Hung, Andrew; Coleman, Mark; Cecil, Tom; Ericsson, Anders; Anvari, Mehran; Wang, Yulun; Beaulieu, Yanick; Haram, Nadine; Sridhar, Ashwin; Marescaux, Jacques; Diana, Michele; Marcus, Hani J.; Levy, Jeffrey; Dasgupta, Prokar; Stefanidis, Dimitrios; Martino, Martin; Feins, Richard; Patel, Vipul; Slack, Mark; Satava, Richard M.; Kelly, John D.; Surgery, School of MedicineContext The role of robot-assisted surgery continues to expand at a time when trainers and proctors have travel restrictions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Objective To provide guidance on setting up and running an optimised telementoring service that can be integrated into current validated curricula. We define a standardised approach to training candidates in skill acquisition via telepresence technologies. We aim to describe an approach based on the current evidence and available technologies, and define the key elements within optimised telepresence services, by seeking consensus from an expert committee comprising key opinion leaders in training. Evidence acquisition This project was carried out in phases: a systematic review of the current literature, a teleconference meeting, and then an initial survey were conducted based on the current evidence and expert opinion, and sent to the committee. Twenty-four experts in training, including clinicians, academics, and industry, contributed to the Delphi process. An accelerated Delphi process underwent three rounds and was completed within 72 h. Additions to the second- and third-round surveys were formulated based on the answers and comments from the previous rounds. Consensus opinion was defined as ≥80% agreement. Evidence synthesis There was 100% consensus regarding an urgent need for international agreement on guidance for optimised telepresence. Consensus was reached in multiple areas, including (1) infrastructure and functionality; (2) definitions and terminology; (3) protocols for training, communication, and safety issues; and (4) accountability including ethical and legal issues. The resulting formulated guidance showed good internal consistency among experts, with a Cronbach alpha of 0.90. Conclusions Using the Delphi methodology, we achieved international consensus among experts for development and content validation of optimised telepresence services for robotic surgery training. This guidance lays the foundation for launching telepresence services in robotic surgery. This guidance will require further validation.Item What They Are Not Telling Us: Analysis of Nonresponders on a National Survey of Resident Well-Being(Wolters Kluwer, 2022-12-12) Cardell, Chelsea F.; Yuce, Tarik K.; Zhan, Tiannan; Eng, Josh S.; Cheung, Elaine O.; Etkin, Caryn D.; Amortegui, Daniela; Jones, Andrew; Buyske, Jo; Bilimoria, Karl Y.; Hu, Yue-Yung; Surgery, School of MedicineObjectives: To characterize nonrespondents to a national survey about trainee well-being, examine response patterns to questions of sensitive nature, and assess how nonresponse biases prevalence estimates of mistreatment and well-being. Background: Surgical trainees are at risk for burnout and mistreatment, which are discernible only by self-report. Therefore, prevalence estimates may be biased by nonresponse. Methods: A survey was administered with the 2018 and 2019 American Board of Surgery In-Training Examinations assessing demographics, dissatisfaction with education and career, mistreatment, burnout, thoughts of attrition, and suicidality. Responders in 2019 were characterized as survey "Completers," "Discontinuers" (quit before the end), and "Selective Responders" (selectively answered questions throughout). Multivariable logistic regression assessed associations of respondent type with mistreatment and well-being outcomes, adjusting for individual and program characteristics. Longitudinal survey identifiers linked survey responses for eligible trainees between 2018 and 2019 surveys to further inform nonresponse patterns. Results: In 2019, 6956 (85.6%) of 8129 eligible trainees initiated the survey, with 66.5% Completers, 17.5% Discontinuers, and 16.0% Selective Responders. Items with the highest response rates included dissatisfaction with education and career (93.2%), burnout (86.3%), thoughts of attrition (90.8%), and suicidality (94.4%). Discontinuers and Selective Responders were more often junior residents and racially/ethnically minoritized than Completers. No differences were seen in burnout and suicidality rates between Discontinuers, Selective Responders, and Completers. Non-White or Hispanic residents were more likely to skip questions about racial/ethnic discrimination than non-Hispanic White residents (21.2% vs 15.8%; odds ratio [OR], 1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19-1.53), particularly when asked to identify the source. Women were not more likely to omit questions regarding gender/gender identity/sexual orientation discrimination (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.79-1.04) or its sources (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.89-1.16). Both Discontinuers and Selective Responders more frequently reported physical abuse (2.5% vs 1.1%; P = 0.001) and racial discrimination (18.3% vs 13.6%; P < 0.001) on the previous survey (2018) than Completers. Conclusions: Overall response rates are high for this survey. Prevalence estimates of burnout, suicidality, and gender discrimination are likely minimally impacted by nonresponse. Nonresponse to survey items about racial/ethnic discrimination by racially/ethnically minoritized residents likely results in underestimation of this type of mistreatment.