R. B. Robbins1, S. Sullivan2, B. Smith2 1University Of Utah,Department Of Surgery,Salt Lake City, UT, USA 2University Of Wisconsin-Madison,Department Of Surgery,Madison, WI, USA
Introduction: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mandates regularly scheduled didactic sessions for residency training programs but allows flexibility in conference design. Work hour restrictions, patient care duties, and demanding operative schedules create attendance barriers for surgical trainees. We explored vascular surgery trainee and faculty perceptions of the impact of implementing a block conference schedule on trainee preparation for the vascular surgery in-training exam (VSITE), ability to prepare for and participate in operative cases, and overall fund of knowledge.
Methods: The vascular surgery conference schedule at a single academic institution was changed from 1-hour evening conferences three times weekly, to a single, protected 3-hour morning conference once weekly. A survey to assess perceptions of the impact of the change was administered to vascular surgery residents, fellows and faculty before (pre-intervention, January 2015) and 5 months after (post-intervention, May 2015) implementation of the block conference. The survey included Likert-scale questions (1- strongly disagree to 5- strongly agree) and open-ended, free text responses.
Results: The response rate for trainees and faculty was 83% (5 of 6) and 71% (5 of 7) pre-intervention and 66% (4 of 6) and 57% (4 of 7) post-intervention, respectively. Prior to the block conference, 60% of trainees and 100% of faculty agreed that the conferences were worthwhile while 40% of trainees agreed the conferences improved their preparedness for operations, the VSITE or improved their overall fund of knowledge. Only 20% of trainees and 40% of faculty were satisfied with the surgical indications conference. After implementation of the block conference, 100% of both trainees and faculty agreed the conferences were worthwhile, improved trainees’ preparedness for operations and improved trainees’ overall fund of knowledge. Seventy-five percent of trainees agreed the conference improved their preparedness for the VSITE exam. Post-intervention, 100% of trainees and 75% of faculty were satisfied with the surgical indications conference. Pre-intervention, 20% of both trainees and faculty thought the conferences interfered with opportunities to operate, compared to 75% of trainees and 25% of faculty after the block conference was initiated.
Conclusion: This single-institution pilot study demonstrates a positive association in surgical trainee and faculty attitudes regarding trainee preparation for the VSITE and overall fund of knowledge with implementation of a protected block conference schedule. Trainees are more concerned than faculty that mandatory didactic time detracts from their operative experience, however it is unclear whether this is clinically significant. Further delineation of the impact of didactic schedules on surgical resident education and clinical experience is warranted in order to optimize utilization of limited training time in the setting of work hour restrictions.