Journal of surgical education
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Comparative Study
Assessing trainee impact on operative time for common general surgical procedures in ACS-NSQIP.
To examine the effect of surgical trainee involvement on operative time for common surgical procedures. Laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and open inguinal hernia repair comprise 17.7% of the total cases sampled in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. These cases are commonly performed by residents at varying levels of surgical training. ⋯ Surgical trainees' participation in common surgical procedures is associated with an increase in total operative time, with no difference between trainee seniority levels. This finding may be significant in assessing the impact of residency training programs on hospital efficiency.
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To provide an assessment and comparison of the demographics, medical school academic performance, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) performance, and research experience between American Medical Graduate (AMG) and United States International Medical Graduate (USIMG) candidates who applied for and successfully matched into categorical general surgery residency programs. ⋯ USIMGs require higher USMLE scores than their AMG counterparts to be considered for categorical general surgery residency positions. However, excellence on the USMLE neither ensures an invitation to interview nor categorical match success. A well-rounded application in conjunction with a practical application strategy is critical for USIMGs to achieve success in attaining a general surgery residency position.
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Journal club (JC) is a well-recognized education tool for many postgraduate medical education programs. Journal club helps residents learn critical analytic skills and keep up to date with current medical practices. To our knowledge, there is minimal evidence in the current literature detailing modern JC practices of general surgery training programs. Our study attempts to define how general surgery residency programs are implementing JC in their training process. ⋯ Journal club has historically been an integral part of general surgery training. Our research indicates that journal club is still used widely as a beneficial educational resource and helps meet core competency requirements.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Novel educational approach for medical students: improved retention rates using interactive medical software compared with traditional lecture-based format.
Mannequin and computer-based simulators are useful for the practice of patient management, physical procedures, and competency. However, they are ineffective in teaching clinical medicine. StepStone Interactive Medical Software (SS) is a web-based medical learning modality that provides the user with a highly focused set of evaluative and interventional tasks to treat memorable virtual patients in a visual case-based format. ⋯ The SS learning modality demonstrated a significant improvement in student learning retention compared to traditional didactic lecture format. SS is an effective web-based medical education tool.
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Comparative Study
Boot cAMP: educational outcomes after 4 successive years of preparatory simulation-based training at onset of internship.
Preparatory training for new trainees beginning residency has been used by a variety of programs across the country. To improve the clinical orientation process for our new postgraduate year (PGY)-1 residents, we developed an intensive preparatory training curriculum inclusive of cognitive and procedural skills, training activities considered essential for early PGY-1 clinical management. We define our surgical PGY-1 Boot Camp as preparatory simulation-based training implemented at the onset of internship for introduction of skills necessary for basic surgical patient problem assessment and management. This orientation process includes exposure to simulated patient care encounters and technical skills training essential to new resident education. We report educational results of 4 successive years of Boot Camp training. Results were analyzed to determine if performance evidenced at onset of training was predictive of later educational outcomes. ⋯ Individual simulation-based Boot Camp performance scores for cognitive and procedural skills assessments in PGY-1 residents correlate with subjective and objective clinical performance evaluations. This concurrent correlation with multiple traditional evaluation methods used to express competency in our residency program supports the use of Boot Camp performance measures as needs assessment tools as well as adjuncts to cumulative resident evaluation data.