Surgical intern survival skills curriculum as an intern: does it help?

Background: The transition from medical student to surgical intern is fraught with anxiety. We implemented a surgical intern survival skills curriculum to alleviate this through a series of lectures and interactive sessions. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate its effectiveness.

How accurate is the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Resident survey? Comparison between ACGME and in-house GME survey.

Purpose: Increasing importance is being assigned to the annual Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Resident/Fellow survey. In certain circumstances, the survey has prompted site visits for programs with significant areas of noncompliance. However, the dichotomous "yes/no" responses available for most questions on the ACGME survey limit the range of resident responses.

How accurate are self-reported resident duty hours?

Purpose: The Methodist Hospital monitors resident duty hours using self-report for external rotations and an electronic time clock system for internal rotations where residents use their identification badges to "swipe in and out." This study was conducted to compare the accuracy of self-reports against the electronic system.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study.

Reliability and usefulness of clinical encounter cards for a third-year surgical clerkship.

Background: Third-year medical students (MS3) were given clinical encounter cards (CECs) to stimulate feedback during their surgery clerkship. This study analyzes the feedback given on their clinical performance using CECs.

Methods: Two hundred one students enrolled in the 12-week surgery clerkship were given CECs.

Improving resident performance assessment data: numeric precision and narrative specificity.

Purpose: To evaluate the use of a systems approach for diagnosing performance assessment problems in surgery residencies, and intervene to improve the numeric precision of global rating scores and the behavioral specificity of narrative comments.

Method: Faculty and residents at two surgery programs participated in parallel before- and-after trials. During the baseline year, quality assurance data were gathered and problems were identified.

How medical students define surgical mentors.

Background: Current literature does not define ideal qualities of surgical mentors. We sought to define mentoring qualities desired by medical students in attending and resident surgeons.

Methods: We conducted a survey asking third-year medical students to identify the best attending surgeon and resident surgeon mentors during their surgical clerkship and to explain their selections.

Do peer chart audits improve residents' performance in providing preventive care?

Purpose: One recommended method to evaluate residents' competence in practice-based learning and improvement is chart audit. This study determined whether residents improved in providing preventive care after a peer chart audit program was initiated.

Method: Residents audited 1,005 charts and scored their peers on 12 clinical preventive services.

Does a general surgery clerkship influence student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers?

Background: Student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers may influence their decision to pursue a surgical career. We evaluated the impact of a general surgery clerkship on medical student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers and of the clerkship on student interest in surgical careers.

Methods: We conducted voluntary pre- and postclerkship surveys of third-year medical students who were enrolled in their required general surgery clerkship and used 5-point Likert scale rankings to capture agreement with declarative statements (1 = strongly agree; 5 = strongly disagree).

Factors influencing outcome of the American Board of Surgery Certifying examination: an observational study.

Background: Because of the content of the American Board of Surgery (ABS) certifying (oral) examination, there is a perception that those in some subspecialty surgical training programs at the time of the examination may have a lower pass rate. In addition, the format of the oral examination has prompted the use of specialized preparation such as "mock orals" and commercial courses. The purpose of this study was to correlate the pass rates on the ABS certifying examination with the practice status and methods of specialized preparation.

An encounter card system for increasing feedback to students.

Background: Student satisfaction with the feedback process is essential for motivating students to improve their performance.

Methods: Third-year medical students participated in a system to increase feedback from faculty, fellows, and residents during a 12-week surgery clerkship. Each student received 40 encounter cards to solicit verbal and written feedback on specific domains of clinical performance.