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Purpose: Since 2002, the Japan Surgical Society has established a board certification system for surgeons to be certified for a specialty. Surgery remains a male-dominated field in Japan. This study aimed to clarify if the Japanese surgical residency training system is equally suitable for female and male residents. Methods: The Japan Surgical Society conducted the first questionnaire survey regarding the system of surgical training for the residents in 2016. The questionnaire included the degree of satisfaction with 7 aspects of the training system, including the number and variety of cases experienced and duration and quality of instruction, and the learning level for 31 procedures. The degree of satisfaction and level of learning were compared between female and male residents. Results: The degree of satisfaction was similar for all items between female and male residents. Female residents chose breast surgery as their subspecialty more frequently than male residents and were more confident in breast surgery procedures than male residents. Conversely, fewer female residents chose gastrointestinal surgery and were less confident in gastrointestinal surgery procedures than male residents. Conclusion: Female residents were as satisfied with the current surgical training system as male residents. However, there may be room for improvement in the surgical system, considering that fewer applications for gastrointestinal surgery come from female residents than from males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pediatric endoscopic surgery has become an alternative to conventional techniques with the development of medical equipment. However, there is no formal, standardized curriculum for pediatric endoscopic surgery, and its requirement remains elusive. The purpose of this study is to determine the baseline knowledge of pediatric surgeons that is considered essential for pediatric laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgery. Methods: Sixteen web-based multiple-choice questions based on the fundamental cognitive knowledge of pediatric endoscopic surgery were administered. The questions were created based on the fields covered by the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery ™ (FLS) certification examination blueprints and eight specific diseases of pediatric surgery. Pediatric surgeons and pediatric surgical trainees participated in this study voluntarily. Results: A total of 122 surgeons participated through the Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons. The response rate was 95% (122/128). The total mean examination score of all participants was 79.4% (77.3–81.4%). There were no significant differences in total scores between the board-certified pediatric surgeons without an endoscopic surgical skill qualification and the non-board-certified pediatric surgeons (80.4% vs. 77.1%, p = 0.12). The endoscopic surgical skill-qualified surgeons had significantly higher percentages of correct responses in specific subjects than board-certified pediatric surgeons and surgeons without pediatric board certification (94.3% vs. 82.9%, p = 0.02; 94.3% vs. 77.5%, p = 0.0002). The FLS original subjects' scores were not significantly different among them. The mean score of surgeons who had experienced more than 200 cases of endoscopic surgery, including adult cases, was 83.2% (80.4–85.9%). Conclusions: A knowledge gap exists between surgeons, board-certified pediatric surgeons, and endoscopic surgical skill-qualified surgeons in Japan. In the field of pediatric surgery, an effective formal curriculum, such as FLS, is required to help address this vast knowledge gap for the safe conduct of endoscopic surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is no standard program for laparoscopic surgery training in Japan, and competency in these procedures does not require the acquisition of board certification. The purpose of this survey was to investigate the current status of laparoscopic surgery training in Japan. Methods: A questionnaire survey was mailed to 2296 members of the Japan Society for Endoscopic Surgery who were between postgraduate year 3 and 10. The questionnaire inquired about laparoscopic surgical training conditions, operation case numbers, and autonomy in eight laparoscopic procedures. Results: The total response rate was 28.1%. The number of cases required to perform procedures independently was demonstrated. Most participants felt confident in performing laparoscopic appendectomy and cholecystectomy; however, they felt less confident about performing laparoscopic colectomy and gastrectomy. Conclusions: The information from this survey may be useful for surgical educators, surgical societies, and the board certification council for rebuilding the surgical training system in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study sought to assess the disparity between regions and facilities in surgical resident training in Japan via a national level needs-assessment. Methods: A survey was sent to all 909 graduating residents of 2016. Residents trained in the six prefectures with a population of 7 million or more were included in the large prefecture (LP) group. Residents trained in the other 41 prefectures were included in the small prefecture (SP) group. Each group was further divided into a university hospital (UH) group and a non-university hospital (NUH) group. Results: The response rate was 56.3% (n = 512). Excluding nine residents who did not report their prefectures and facilities, surveys from 503 residents were analyzed. The UH group received significantly more years of training. In the SP and UH groups, there were significantly fewer residents who had performed 150 procedures or more under general anesthesia in comparison to the LP and NUH groups, respectively. Self-assessed competencies for several procedures were significantly lower in the SP and UH groups. Conclusion: Disparity in surgical resident training was found between regions and facilities in Japan. The surgical residency curriculum in Japan could be improved to address this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the self-assessed competency of graduating residents (GRs) in Japan upon completion of their residency and to identify the gap between their competency and the competency expected by their program directors (PDs). Method: A list of 31 essential surgical procedures was compiled according to the consensus of surgical educators from around the country. A survey with this list was sent to all 909 GRs and their 611 PDs in 2016. The GRs rated their competency to perform these procedures and the PDs were asked to evaluate the expected competency of their GRs using the Zwisch Scale. Result: The response rate was 56.3% for the GRs and 76.8% for the PDs. Fewer than half of the GRs who responded felt confident performing ten (32%) of the surgical procedures evaluated. For most procedures, the GRs' self-reported competency was lower than the expectation reported by their PDs. This gap was more than 10% for 13 of the procedures. Conclusion: More than half of the GRs in Japan lacked the confidence in their skill to perform one-third of the surgical procedures selected for evaluation in this study. These findings should be used to update the surgical education curriculum in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assessment of the performance of laparoscopic gastrectomy is yet unreported, likely because of the complexity of the procedure. We aimed to develop a tool to assess the skills required for laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) through cognitive task analysis (CTA) and expert consensus using the Delphi method.Methods: CTA involved the listing of the knowledge and criteria required for completing each step of LDG as subtasks based on interviews by experts and novices and text book, instructional video, and procedural review. The Delphi evaluation method involved anonymous online surveys, conducted to merge the opinions of experts in laparoscopic gastrectomy. The experts were asked to rate (from 1 to 5) the importance of subtasks for skill evaluation and training for LDG using a Likert scale. Consensus among expert viewpoints was determined by the internal consistency of each item using Cronbach's approach.Results: Essential subtasks drafted for the assessment of LDG performance were determined based on the CTA. Thirty-one LDG experts participated in the online-survey with a response rate over 90%. A consensus was achieved after 2 rounds of surveys with a Cronbach alpha of 0.86, and 34 subtasks of LDG were selected. We finally created the Japanese Operative Rating Scale for Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy (JORS-LDG) based on the 34 subtasks.Conclusions: We developed the JORS-LDG using CTA and the Delphi method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the status of surgical training in Japan through a national-level needs assessment. Methods: A survey was sent to all 909 graduating residents (GRs) and their 611 program directors (PDs) for the year 2016. A working group of surgical educators from around the country was formed under the education committee of the Japan Surgical Society. The survey items were developed by consensus of this working group. The survey investigated the knowledge and problems of the current curriculum, and the status of the current residency training. Results: The response rates were 56.3% of the GRs and 76.8% of the PDs. Among the participants, 47.6% of the GRs and 29.4% of the PDs believed that the residency curriculum did not match the clinical experience. Over 80% of the GRs and PDs agreed on the importance of training outside of the OR, whereas only 13% of the GRs had received such training regularly. Trainees also reported a lower satisfaction rate about the opportunity to train outside of the OR. Conclusion: This national-level needs assessment of surgical training in Japan identified several gaps in the curriculum. These results provide valuable data to assist the ongoing efforts for surgical residency curriculum improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recently, laparoscopic surgery (LS) has become a more common procedure than traditional open surgery. Although LS-related adverse events have been reported, there is no formal, standardized curriculum to teach the fundamentals of LS in Japan. Understanding surgeons' knowledge regarding LS is crucial for developing an educational curriculum. The purpose of this study was to determine the baseline knowledge on LS of surgeons and surgical trainees in Japan.Methods: Participants completed 24 multiple-choice questions testing basic cognitive knowledge of LS and a questionnaire regarding the status of laparoscopic education. The examination was developed according to the 13 content domains of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) program. Scores were compared between post-graduate year (PGY) > 5 and PGY 1-5 participants. Data are expressed as median scores and interquartile ranges. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for statistical analysis.Results: A total of 195 surgeons and surgical trainees from 10 teaching hospitals (PGY1-5: 66, PGY > 5: 129) across Japan completed the examination. The median score in the entire cohort was 75 [67; 83] %, with significantly higher scores in the PGY > 5 group compared to the PGY1-5 group (79 [75; 83] % vs. 67 [58; 75] %, p < 0.001). The differences in performance were due to better scores for PGY > 5 group on the sections "equipment," "patient considerations," "abdominal access," "tissue handling," "hemorrhage and hemostasis," "tissue approximation," and "exiting the abdomen." Overall, the median scores in the "energy sources" and "establishment and physiology of the pneumoperitoneum" subsections were lower than in other domains. All participants agreed on the need for fundamental knowledge and a formal educational curriculum.Conclusions: Compared to experienced surgeons, surgical trainees had lesser knowledge about performing LS. Regardless of the years of experience, there are crucial knowledge gaps in specific areas regarding safe LS that should be addressed by implementing an educational curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite recent developments in surgical education, obstacles including inadequate budget, limited human resources, and a scarcity of time have limited its widespread adoption. To provide systematic training for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair, we had previously developed and validated a checklist to evaluate the recorded performance of transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) repair. We had also developed an educational system that included didactic materials based on the TAPP checklist and incorporated remote evaluation and feedback system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the educational impact of the TAPP education system on novice surgeons.Methods: Residents and surgeons from participating hospitals, who had performed 0 or 1 TAPP procedure, were randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG), who trained using this new educational tool, and the control group (CG), who trained using the conventional system. Their surgical videos were rated by blinded raters. All participants performed their first case prior to randomization. The primary outcome was improvement of TAPP checklist score from the first to the third case.Results: Eighteen participants from 9 institutes were recruited for this study. Seven participants in the IG and 5 participants in the CG were included in the final analysis. The participants in the IG demonstrated significant improvement in their TAPP performance (p = 0.044) from their first case to their third case, whereas their counterparts in the CG failed to make any significant progress during the same period (p = 0.581).Conclusion: The new TAPP educational system was effective in improving the TAPP performance of novice surgeons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Various studies have shown the benefit of three-dimensional (3D) systems over two-dimensional (2D) systems in laparoscopic surgery. However, a few studies have shown the impact of proficiency-based training and transferability of the skills from 2D to 3D system and vice versa.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of 2D and 3D environments on the time taken by novice trainees to learn basic laparoscopic skills and the transferability of the skills learnt in one environment to another.Methods: Medical students with no prior experience in training of laparoscopic tasks were randomly assigned to 2D or 3D groups. Both groups were trained in peg transfer and intracorporeal suture of Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) program until they attained predefined benchmarks. The practice times taken to reach the goal were compared. After they had reached the goal, all the participants were asked to repeat these tasks under both 2D and 3D environments. Their scores in both of the environments were compared.Results: Eighty-eight participants were randomly assigned to 2D (n = 44) or 3D (n = 44) training groups. There was no difference between the backgrounds of both groups. The 3D training group was faster in reaching its goal in both tasks (p < 0.001 and p = 0.007, respectively). After reaching the goal, both groups were faster in the 3D environment in peg transfer (p = 0.04, p = 0.012). In intracorporeal suture, the 2D training group had similar scores in both the environments (p = 0.32), but the 3D group was slower in the 2D environment (p = <0.001).Conclusion: The 3D environment helped shorten the training time of basic laparoscopic skills to novices. However, the novices trained in the 3D environment failed to transfer their skills to the 2D environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the widespread use of surgical energy devices and the potential for rare but serious complications, pilot data from North America suggest that surgeons and surgical trainees have knowledge gaps in their safe use. The purpose of this study was to determine baseline knowledge of general surgeons and surgical trainees regarding the safe use of electrosurgery (ES) across varying levels of experience in Japan.Methods: Participants completed a 35-item multiple-choice question examination, testing critical knowledge of ES. The examination was developed according to the objectives and blueprints of SAGES' Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy™ curriculum. Sections of the examination included: "principles of ES," "ES-related adverse events," "monopolar and bipolar devices," and "pediatric considerations and interference with implantable devices." Scores were compared between PGY > 5 and PGY 1-5 participants.Results: A total of 145 general surgeons and surgical trainees of all years after medical school (PGY 1-5: 57, PGY > 5: 88) from ten academic and five community hospitals completed the assessment (mean age 35; 91% male). The mean score in the entire cohort was 58 ± 12% (range 23-83%), with significantly higher scores in the PGY > 5 group compared to the PGY 1-5 group (60 ± 11 vs. 53 ± 12%, p < 0.01). Among all participants, 92% were not familiar with best practices when using ES on patients with a pacemaker; 44% believe that ES uses thermal energy from cautery; 19% did not know how to manage an operating room fire; 16% thought that a dispersive electrode should be cut to fit a child; and 27% believe that insulation failure in minimally invasive surgical instruments is mostly visible under careful inspection.Conclusions: General surgeons and trainees at all levels have knowledge gaps in the safe and effective use of energy devices, regardless of years of experience. There is a need for educational curricula to help address these gaps and contribute to safer surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To ensure the safe spread of pediatric endoscopic surgery, it is essential to build a training curriculum, and a survey of the current situation in Japan is necessary. The present study assessed an efficient training curriculum by clarifying instructor class pediatric surgeons' experiences, including autonomy when performing advanced endoscopic surgeries., Methods: An online nationwide questionnaire survey was conducted among pediatric surgeons who had Endoscopic Surgical Skill Qualification (ESSQ) and board-certified instructors who had skills comparable to ESSQ. We assessed participants' training experience, opinions concerning the ideal training curriculum, and the correlation between surgical experience and the level of autonomy. The Zwisch scale was used to assess autonomy., Results: Fifty-two participants responded to the survey (response rate: 86.7%). Only 57.7% of the respondents felt that they had received sufficient endoscopic surgery training. Most respondents considered an educational curriculum for endoscopic surgery including off-the-job training essential during the training period. Autonomy had been acquired after experiencing two to three cases for most advanced endoscopic surgeries., Conclusion: This first nationwide survey in Japan showed that instructor class pediatric surgeons acquired autonomy after experiencing two to three for most advanced endoscopic surgeries. Our findings suggest that training, especially off-the-job training, has been insufficient., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Surgical education has seen tremendous changes in the US over the past decade. The Halstedian training model of see one, do one, teach one that governed surgical training for almost 100 years has been replaced by the achievement of the ACGME competencies, milestones, entrustable professional activities (EPAs), and acquisition of surgical skill outside the operating room on simulators. Several of these changes in American medical education have been influenced by educators and training paradigms abroad. In this paper, we review the training paradigms for surgeons in the UK, Japan, and Mexico to allow comparisons with the US training paradigm and promote the exchange of ideas., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Currently, Japan does not have a national standardized program for surgical residency. Therefore, surgical education information and strategies are not shared among teaching hospitals. This was the first study aiming to clarify the current situation of surgical residency in Japan., Methods: A questionnaire survey investigating the present situation of surgical residency was sent to the 76 teaching hospitals in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan., Results: The response rate was 64.5%. Data from the 36 hospitals with active residency programs were analyzed. Most of the program directors (79.4%) were in charge of educational work for less than 5 hours per week. Although half of the hospitals had skills laboratories or simulation centers, only 2 used them routinely for their residency program. Half of the hospitals evaluated the residents' competency and the quality of their educational programs., Conclusions: Structured programs and evaluation systems have not been integrated well into surgical residency in Japan., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)