Preoperative goal setting and perioperative communication in an academic training institution: Where do we stand?

BACKGROUND: We collected data regarding specific aspects of perioperative surgical education within our institution's Section of Surgical Sciences as a needs assessment.

METHODS: Categorical general surgery residents and attending surgeons were queried regarding their perceptions of resident preoperative planning and perioperative communication.

RESULTS: The overall response rate was 81%, with 35 resident and 54 faculty respondents. Residents reported selecting an operative learning objective a median of 50% (IQR 36-67) of the time, whereas attending surgeons perceived this to be the case a median of 26% (IQR 15-35) of the time (P < 0.001). The group reported median frequencies of 20% (IQR 9-31) for preoperative discussion of learning objectives, 12% (IQR 4-27) for preoperative discussion of competence and 27% (IQR 17-55) for postoperative debriefing.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates deficits in resident goal setting and perioperative communication within our program, which are targets for future intervention. We share these results as a potential tool for other programs.