title: Surgical skills curricula in American College of Surgeons Accredited Education Institutes: An international survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A clear understanding of simulation-based curricula in use at American College of Surgeons Accredited Education Institutes (ACS-AEIs) is lacking.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 25-question online survey was sent to ACS-AEIs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate approached 60%. The most frequent specialties to use the ACS-AEIs are general surgery and obstetrics/gynecology (94%). Residents are the main target population for programming/training (96%). Elements of the ACS/Association of Program Directors in Surgery Surgical Skills Curriculum are used by 77% of responding ACS-AEIs. Only 49% of ACS-AEIs implement the entire curriculum and 96% have independently developed their own surgical skills curricula. "Home-grown" simulators have been designed at 71% of ACS-AEIs. Feasibility (80%), evidence of effectiveness (67%), and cost (60%) were reasons for curriculum adoption. All programs use operative assessment tools for resident performance, and 53% use Messick's unitary framework of validity. Most programs (88%) have financial support from their academic institute. Majority of ACS-AEIs had trainees evaluate their faculty instructors (90%), and the main form of such faculty evaluation was postcourse surveys (97%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides specific information regarding simulation-based curricula at ACS-AEIs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. Electronic address: ighaderi@surgery.arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ghaderi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Shimae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fitzgibbons
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery II, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lachapelle
authors.affiliation: Louisiana State University (LSU) Health New Orleans Health Sciences Center, LA, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paige
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D005381:Financing, Organized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D000066908:Simulation Training; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: ACS-AEIs; Accredited education institutes; Curriculum; Simulation; Surgical education