title: Technical skills rotation for general surgery residents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Technical skills are an important part of any general surgery residency curriculum. With the demands of limited work weeks, it is imperative that educators create novel methods of teaching technical skills to their residents. Our program utilizes a dedicated month to help accomplish this. This study hypothesized that general surgery residents would report a positive effect of a dedicated technical skills rotation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Residents who had undergone a 1 mo rotation in technical skills during their first year were asked to fill out a survey concerning their experience. During the 1-mo rotation, the residents had almost no clinical responsibilities. Teaching of technical skills was performed with various activities, including video content (VC), virtual reality simulators (VR), open foam procedures (OF), laparoscopic box trainers (BT), surgical equipment in-service (SE), and animate sessions (AS). Responses were given on a Likert scale (1-10) with higher numbers being more positive responses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were seven residents in this study. The residents gave a very positive response to the overall rotation (9.4) and exposure to laparoscopic procedures (9.6). The other responses were enthusiastic as well: exposure to open procedures (8.9) and preparation for operative room (9.4). After their rotation, the residents were comfortable performing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (9.2), a hand-sewn anastomosis (8.7), and a stapled anastomosis (9.4). The residents found theses activities helpful in increasing order: VC (7.8), VR (8.0), BT (9.0), ES (9.7), OF (9.8), and AS (9.8).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A 1-mo dedicated technical skills rotations was perceived to be extremely positive by the residents. The residents felt very comfortable performing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a hand-sewn anastomosis, and a stapled anastomosis. With the 80-h work week, alternatives to learning technical skills in the operating room are essential. Further studies need to be performed to determine if this rotation aids in accomplishing this goal.
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence for Laparoscopic and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Ray I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Alberto R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lo Menzo
authors.forename: Duane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hutson
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sleeman
authors.forename: Alan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Livingstone
authors.forename: Atul K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Madan
mesh_terms: D000713:Anastomosis, Roux-en-Y / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D003625:Data Collection; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000592:standards*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards; D013502:General Surgery / Q000592:standards*; D059685:Herniorrhaphy; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods; D007858:Learning; D023421:Models, Animal; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000379:methods; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013552:Swine; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface