title: Evaluating the effectiveness of a 2-year curriculum in a surgical skills center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was a formative evaluation of a 2-year Surgical Skills Center Curriculum (SSCC) using objective measures of surgical performance and self-reported process-oriented evaluations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty postgraduate third-year (PGY-3) residents participated in an Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) examination. Nineteen residents underwent the SSCC and 31 residents did not. During the SSCC, self-reported student and faculty evaluations were completed after each session.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the OSATS examination, scores were not significantly different between treatment and control groups, on either the checklist (66.4 +/- 6.1 versus 64.1 +/- 10.8) or global rating scale scores (66.9 +/- 6.9 versus 68.0 +/- 9.6). Further comparisons between groups on individual OSATS stations revealed no significant differences between groups. The majority of student and faculty evaluation remarks were highly positive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The OSATS results failed to support our hypothesis that training on a core procedure in a single session during a SSCC would have an appreciable and sustained effect after 2 years. Self-reported process-oriented evaluations support the utility of our SSCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Centre for Research in Education, University of Toronto, FP4-140, 399 Bathurst St., Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8, Canada. dimitri.anastakis@uhn.on.ca
authors.forename: Dimitri J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Anastakis
authors.forename: Kyle R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Wanzel
authors.forename: Mitchell H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Jodi Herold
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: McIlroy
authors.forename: Stanley J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hamstra
authors.forename: Jameel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Carol R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murnaghan
authors.forename: Richard K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Reznick
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Regehr
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration; D007753:Laboratories; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods