Comparison of basic elements of human performance scores between urologists with various extents of experience.
OBJECTIVE
An objective evaluation of innate ability and its ability to predict potential success as a surgical trainee is an appealing concept for the selection process of residency applications. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether basic elements of performance (BEP) could discriminate among resident applicants and urologists with various extents of surgical experience.


METHODS
One hundred forty-five participants were divided into four study groups: group A, 57 urology residency applicants to the 2002 and 2003 interview process; group B, 8 post-internship urology residents; group C, 19 urologists tested with BEP within 10 years of graduation from their residency training program; and group D, 61 urologists who had graduated from their residency training program more than 10 years prior to testing. The BEP measures consisted of 13 basic performance resources (BPR) including visual-information processing speed, visual-spatial immediate-recall capacity, and neuromotor channel capacity.


RESULTS
The four study groups differed significantly in their mean age: group A=27.6 years, group B=29.1 years, group C=37.1 years, and group D=48.9 years (P<0.0005). There was essentially no significant difference between the groups with regard to immediate-recall memory, reaction time simple, or reaction time complicated. The younger participants (groups A and B) were faster than the older surgeons (groups C and D) (P<0.02). However, the older surgeons (groups C and D) were significantly more accurate than the younger groups (A and B) (P<0.0005). The only sex differences noted were in hand-grip strength and shoulder-strength scores, which were all higher in the men.


CONCLUSIONS
There generally appears to be a lack of direct correlation between innate abilities and surgical experience. Urology resident applicants with no surgical experience and urology residents with limited surgical experience are faster but less accurate in innate skills testing than experienced practicing urologists.
Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine, Orange, California 92868, USA. elspethm@uci.edu
Elspeth M
EM
McDougall
Federico A
FA
Corica
David S
DS
Chou
Carlos A
CA
Uribe
Corollos S
CS
Abdelshehid
John R
JR
Boker
Sepi S
SS
Khonsari
Lou
L
Eichel
David
D
Lee
David S
DS
Finley
Deborah
D
Hogg
Jeffrey A
JA
Cadeddu
Margaret S
MS
Pearle
Ralph V
RV
Clayman
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002983:Clinical Competence; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008503:Medical Staff; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D011336:Probability; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D017749:Total Quality Management; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D014572:Urology / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards