title: The Changing Landscape of Surgical Education: What are Residency Education Teams and do we Need Them?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to understand how general surgery training programs constitute their residency education team (RET), how they define the roles of RET members, and how they measure success of the team. It fundamentally asks the question, "What is a RET and do we need one?"
  
  
  METHODS
  Program directors, associate program directors, educators, program coordinators, and chief residents from Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) general surgery training programs were asked to anonymously complete a survey categorized into 3 sections: (1) roles and responsibilities, (2) views of his/her RET and team members, and (3) general views about RETs. All respondents provided their opinions on the importance of a RET for administering and leading a surgical residency, whom the ideal members would be, and the main outcomes of a high-functioning RET.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents (n = 167) included 59 (35.3%) program directors, 16 (9.6%) associate program directors, 8 (4.8%) educators, 67 (40.1%) program coordinators, and 6 (3.6%) chief residents. Overall, 84.4% of respondents were a part of a RET, defined as 2 or more individuals who are responsible and accountable for oversight and conduct of the residency training program. RET respondents expressed statistically significantly and higher importance for a RET (p < 0.0001) than their non-RET counterparts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides a snapshot of how some associated with general surgery residencies view and value RETs. The results of this survey are preliminary and suggest a need for educators within surgery programs and ambiguity about the role of associate program director. It also suggests that a closer look at role responsibilities may be of value, especially in view of the changing landscape of surgical education. Overall, most respondents felt that a RET was important to the main outcomes of a successful residency program.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Academic Affairs, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: nlwoll@geisinger.edu.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Woll
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Academic Affairs, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hunsinger
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Academic Affairs, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dove
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Academic Affairs, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Famiglio
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Academic Affairs, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boker
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Academic Affairs, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shabahang
mesh_terms: D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000639:trends*; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000639:trends*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000639:trends*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: Systems-Based Practice; associate program director; educator; surgical education; team