Educational Benefits of Rural Rotations: Insights From General Surgery Residency Program Leaders.

Objective: Rural rotations have become increasingly common. However, little is known about whether they offer educational benefits for residents who do not eventually practice in rural facilities.

Design: Starting with an ACGME-provided roster of general surgery programs, the authors conducted a website review (12/2022-7/2023) of the 342 civilian programs located in U.

Correlation Between Medical School Performance and Receiving Awards in General Surgery Residency.

Importance: It is uncertain whether current measures of achievement during medical school predict exceptional performance during surgical residency. One surrogate of excellence during residency may be awards, especially those given for teaching and annual overall accomplishment.

Objective: Determine whether markers of superior performance during medical school documented in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) application and student record correlated with receiving awards during residency.

Effect of General Surgery Resident Participation in Thoracic Surgery on Oncologic Outcomes: An Observational Cohort Study.

Despite increasing sub-specialization, general surgeons continue to perform oncologic thoracic surgeries. Our objective was to determine whether general surgery resident participation in thoracic surgery affects surgical quality or oncologic outcomes. We hypothesized that patient outcomes with and without resident participation would be similar.

Key Issues in Surgical Residency Education: Recommendations of the Blue Ribbon II Committee Residency Education Subcommittee.

Background: In September 2022, a summit was convened by the American Board of Surgery (ABS) to discuss competency-based reform in surgical education. A key output of that summit was the recommendation that the prior work of the Blue Ribbon I Committee convened 20 years earlier be revived. With leadership from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Surgical Association (ASA), the Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) II was subsequently convened.

Association of Residency Applicants' Hobbies and Subsequent Technical Proficiency Ratings as General Surgery Chief Residents: A Multi-Institutional Study.

Objective: To determine whether participation in certain hobbies (e.g., participation in sports, playing musical instruments, or other hobbies requiring fine motor skills), preresidency, are associated with higher technical skills ratings at the time of residency graduation.

Emergency Point-of-Care Ultrasound Stewardship - A Joint Position Paper by EuSEM and EFSUMB and Endorsed by IFEM and WFUMB.

Emergency Medicine Point-of-Care Ultrasound (EMPoCUS) is a convincing concept. It has spread rapidly because of its intuitive, simple applicability and low equipment costs. The speed of its emerging growth frequently outpaces the development of quality assurance and education.

"What I Would Do to Take Away Your Pain": A Photovoice Project Conducted by Mothers of Children With Medical Complexity.

Research identifies that families of children with medical complexities in the United States have diverse and complex needs. Despite research emphasizing that families demonstrate higher needs that are not being met, limited research focuses solely on mothers of children with medical complexities. Specifically, how mothers understand and identify themselves, understand and define their role in coordinating care, and how they view their own mental and physical health.

Characteristics Associated With Outstanding General Surgery Residency Graduate Performance, as Rated by Surgical Educators.

Importance: Characteristics of outstanding graduating surgical residents are currently undefined. Identifying these qualities may be important in guiding resident selection and resident education.

Objective: To determine characteristics that are most strongly associated with being rated as an outstanding graduating surgical resident.

American College of Surgeons Objective Assessment of Skills in Surgery (ACS OASIS): A Formative Assessment of Junior Residents' Technical Skills.

Objective: The objective assessment of technical skills of junior residents is essential in implementing competency-based training and providing specific feedback regarding areas for improvement. An innovative assessment that can be easily implemented by training programs nationwide has been developed by expert surgeon educators under the aegis of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Division of Education. This assessment, ACS Objective Assessment of Skills in Surgery (ACS OASIS) uses eight stations to address technical skills important for junior residents within the domains of laparoscopic appendectomy, excision of lipoma, central line placement, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, trocar placement, exploratory laparotomy, repair of enterotomy, and tube thoracostomy.

EQIP's First Year: A Step Closer to Higher Quality in Surgical Education.

Objective: To describe the first year of the Educational Quality Improvement Program (EQIP) DESIGN: The Educational Quality Improvement Program (EQIP) was formed by the Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS) in 2018 as a continuous educational quality improvement program. Over 18 months, thirteen discrete goals for the establishment of EQIP were refined and executed through a collaborative effort involving leaders in surgical education. Alpha and beta pilots were conducted to refine the data queries and collection processes.

Postoperative Outcomes in the Plain Community Population of Western Wisconsin.

Background: Residents of plain communities constitute an underserved minority population that is not reliably captured in contemporary surgical outcomes research. We hypothesized that plain communities (PC) patients would have higher postoperative complication rates than a general surgical population.

Methods: A retrospective review of 30-day postoperative outcomes for PC patients compared to a majority (non-PC) matched patient population from September 2014 to March 2020 was performed.

The APDS General Surgery Education Quality Improvement Program (EQIP).

Background: Although the ACGME has called for outcomes-based evaluation of residency programs, few metrics or benchmarks exist connecting educational processes with resident educational outcomes. To address this deficiency, a national Education Quality Improvement Program (EQIP) for General Surgery training is proposed.

Methods: We describe the initial efforts to create this platform.

APDS Presidential Address: Of Wrestlers, Mountain Bikers, and Surgeons -"The Way it is. . . .?".

Association of Program Directors in Surgery - Spring Meeting: Boston, MA Presidential Address April 28, 2021 Benjamin Jarman, MD.

A multi-institutional study assessing general surgery faculty teaching evaluations.

Background: Resident evaluation of faculty teaching is an important metric in general surgery training, however considerable variability in faculty teaching evaluation (FE) instruments exists.

Study Design: Twenty-two general surgery programs provided their FE and program demographics. Three clinical education experts performed blinded assessment of FEs, assessing adherence 2018 ACGME common program standards and if the FE was meaningful.

Is Chief Resident Autonomy Safe for Patients? An Analysis of Quality in Training Initiative (QITI) Data to Assess Chief Resident Performance.

Objective: A chief resident service (CRS) provides a unique environment to assess competence throughout all aspects of patient care. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and Quality in Training Initiative databases are utilized to assess patient outcomes by individual residents with institutional and national comparisons. We hypothesized that residents on the CRS would have equivalent patient care outcomes to peers not on CRS and to chief residents nationally.

Ad astra per aspera (Through Hardships to the Stars): Lessons Learned from the First National Virtual APDS Meeting, 2020.

Objective: After COVID-19 rendered in-person meetings for national societies impossible in the spring of 2020, the leadership of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS) innovated via a virtual format in order to hold its national meeting.

Design: APDS leadership pre-emptively considered factors that would be important to attendees including cost, value, time, professional commitments, education, sharing of relevant and current information, and networking.

Setting: The meeting was conducted using a variety of virtual formats including a web portal for entry, pre-ecorded poster and oral presentations on the APDS website, interactive panels via a web conferencing platform, and livestreaming.

Career Satisfaction, Gender Bias, and Work-Life Balance: A Contemporary Assessment of General Surgeons.

Objective: To identify factors and patterns of career and life satisfaction among general surgery residency graduates who completed all of their general surgery training after the implementation of duty hour restrictions.

Design: A 91-point electronic survey was distributed to assess experiences during medical school, residency, current surgical practice and work-life balance. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were completed.

Underrepresented Minorities in General Surgery Residency: Analysis of Interviewed Applicants, Residents, and Core Teaching Faculty.

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires diversity in residency. The self-identified race/ethnicities of general surgery applicants, residents, and core teaching faculty were assessed to evaluate underrepresented minority (URM) representation in surgery residency programs and to determine the impact of URM faculty and residents on URM applicants' selection for interview or match.

Study Design: Data from the 2018 application cycle were collated for 10 general surgery programs.

Mid-Year Medical Knowledge Milestones and ABSITE Scores in First-Year Surgery Residents.

Objective: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Surgery milestone ratings in the "Knowledge of Diseases and Conditions" (MK1) sub competency have been shown to correlate with American Board of Surgery In Training Examination (ABSITE) scores, and hypothesized to predict them. To better assess the predictive value of the MK1 milestone and avoid the potential bias caused by previous years' ABSITE scores, we designed a study including only first-year (PGY-1) residents and analyzed the correlation between their mid-year MK1 ratings and their scores in the ABSITE they took approximately a month later.

Methods: De-identified United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 scores, mid-year MK1 milestone ratings and the subsequent ABSITE standard scores for the five academic years from 2014-2015 to 2018-2019 were collected and tabulated for 247 PGY-1 preliminary- and categorical-track residents from ten ACGME-accredited surgery residency programs.

Career Goals, Salary Expectations, and Salary Negotiation Among Male and Female General Surgery Residents.

Importance: In general surgery, women earn less money and hold fewer leadership positions compared with their male counterparts.

Objective: To assess whether differences exist between the perspectives of male and female general surgery residents on future career goals, salary expectations, and salary negotiation that may contribute to disparity later in their careers.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study was based on an anonymous and voluntary survey sent to 19 US general surgery programs.

Factors associated with general surgery residents' decisions regarding fellowship and subspecialty stratified by burnout and quality of life.

Background: Although most surgery residents pursue fellowships, data regarding those decisions are limited. This study describes associations with interest in fellowship and specific subspecialties.

Methods: Anonymous surveys were distributed to 607 surgery residents at 19 US programs.

Underrepresented Minorities are Underrepresented Among General Surgery Applicants Selected to Interview.

Objective: Diversity is an ill-defined entity in general surgery training. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education recently proposed new common program requirements including verbiage requiring diversity in residency. "Recruiting" for diversity can be challenging within the constraints of geographic preference, type of program, and applicant qualifications.

Is point-of-care ultrasound a reliable predictor of outcome during atraumatic, non-shockable cardiac arrest? A systematic review and meta-analysis from the SHoC investigators.

Aims: To evaluate the accuracy of PoCUS in predicting return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival to hospital admission (SHA), and survival to hospital discharge (SHD) in adult non-traumatic, non-shockable out-of-hospital or emergency department cardiac arrest.

Methods: Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization Registry were searched for eligible studies.

International Surgery Electives During General Surgery Residency: A 9-Year Experience at an Independent Academic Center.

Objective: International experiences are an increasingly emphasized feature of general surgery residency programs. In 2008, an international elective (IE) was implemented for general surgery residents at our institution. This effort was augmented by the establishment of a pathway for formal approval of IEs by the American Board of Surgery and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2012.