title: What makes a competent surgeon?: experts' and trainees' perceptions of the roles of a surgeon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Assessment of surgical competence is a priority; however little is known about surgeons' perceptions of competence. We investigated components of competence and adequacy of training in achieving them.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using questionnaires, Surgical Attendings and trainees rated the importance of 7 CanMEDS roles that define a competent surgeon (Medical Expert; Communicator; Collaborator; Manager; Health Advocate; Scholar; Professional) and whether training enabled them to achieve competency in each role.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-two of 125 questionnaires (74%) were completed. Junior trainees attributed lower importance to the roles of Manager, Communicator, Collaborator, and Professional than senior trainees or Attendings. No surgeon stated that they had achieved competency in every role.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trainee surgeons do not appreciate the importance of all the roles required of a competent surgeon and current training does not ensure competence in all roles. These gaps must be addressed to develop surgeons able to provide the highest quality of care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom. Sonal.Arora06@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sonal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sevdalis
authors.forename: Ibnauf
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suliman
authors.forename: Thanos
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Athanasiou
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kneebone
authors.forename: Ara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darzi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D017145:Models, Educational; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D025341:Principal Component Analysis