Preparing general surgery residents for rural practice in British Columbia: Competencies, privileging and geography.

Introduction: For general surgeons practising in rural areas, multiple factors influence care beyond skills learned in residency. The British Columbia Privileging Dictionary (BCPD) defines core and non-core procedures that shape the scope of general surgeons. Moreover, the Royal College has adopted a Competence by Design (CBD) curriculum which employs entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that list surgical skill residents must be proficient in by graduation.

Improving First Case Operating Room Efficiency.

Introduction: Improving transition to the operating room (OR) can enhance healthcare efficiency. Our aim was to determine whether adopting a communication board (CB) for first case surgical patients reduced delays to OR.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted from April to October 2021.

Defining the Canadian rural general surgeon.

Background: A total of 18%-30% of Canadians live in a rural area and are served by 8% of the country's general surgeons. The demographic characteristics of Canada's population and its geography greatly affect the health outcomes and needs of the population living in rural areas, and rural general surgeons hold a unique role in meeting the surgical needs of these communities. Rural general surgery is a distinct area of practice that is not well understood.

Evaluating the scope of rural general surgery in British Columbia.

Background: Rural general surgeons perform many procedures outside the conventional scope of the specialty. Unique to British Columbia, the Rural Practice Subsidiary Agreement (RSA) formally defines rurality in the province. Our goal is to understand the scope of practice for BC's rural general surgeons and whether it has been affected over time by changing privileging guidelines.

Improving Surgical Quality for Patients With Mental Illnesses: A Narrative Review.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify disparities in care for surgical patients with preexisting mental health diagnoses.

Summary Background Data: Mental illness affects approximately 6.7 million Canadians.

Pediatric Alopecia Areata.

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is a non-scarring hair loss disorder of autoimmune etiology.

Objective: To familiarize physicians with the clinical presentation, diagnosis, evaluation, and management of pediatric alopecia areata.

Methods: The search term "Alopecia areata" was entered into a Pubmed search.