title: International assessment practices along the continuum of surgical training.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objectives of this study were to assemble an international perspective on (1) current, and (2) ideal technical performance assessment methods, and (3) barriers to their adoption during: selection, in-training, and certification.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was distributed to international educational directorates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight of 10 jurisdictions responded. Currently, aptitude tests or simulated tasks are used during selection, observational rating scales during training and nothing is used at certification. Ideally, innate ability should be determined during selection, in-training evaluation reports, and global rating scales used during training, whereas global and procedure-specific rating scales used at the time of certification. Barriers include lack of predictive evidence for use in selection, financial limitations during training, and a combination with respect to certification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Identifying current and ideal evaluation methods will prove beneficial to ensure the best assessments of technical performance are chosen for each training time point.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, 30 Bond Street, 16CC-056, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada. Electronic address: marisa.louridas@mail.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Louridas
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, 30 Bond Street, 16CC-056, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Szasz
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, 30 Bond Street, 16CC-056, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Montbrun
authors.affiliation: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, 30 Bond Street, 16CC-056, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
authors.forename: Teodor P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Grantcharov
mesh_terms: D002568:Certification / Q000592:standards; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000592:standards*; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Assessment; Competence; Evaluation; Surgical training; Technical performance