Search

Background In the UK, Core Surgical Training (CST) marks the start of a surgical career, but previous experience and skills vary widely. Whilst Individual hospital Trusts offer local inductions, these are generally of a generic, administrative nature rather than advising trainees on how best to harness training opportunities. We designed a regional induction programme, ‘Building Excellence in Surgical Training’ (BEST) to address this, develop essential technical and non-technical skills, and engender support networks. Methods All incoming London Core Surgical Trainees (annual cohort size 90) were invited to participate, during the week prior to commencement of training. Trainees undertook 3 modules (portfolio, surgical skills and human factors-based simulation) and a research paper presentation day. We collected qualitative and quantitative data through a structured evaluation form, pre and post course Likert-scale scores and self-assessment utilising the non-technical skills for surgeons (NOTSS) framework. Results 972 CSTs have completed BEST over the past 12 years. In 2019, significant improvements were seen in: confidence for starting CST, 45% (n = 22/49)-83% (n = 33/40,p = 0.00045); feeling the core programme cared about them, 55% (n = 27/49)-98% (n = 41/42, p = Conclusion BEST equips trainees with the fundamental skills and confidence to safely embark on surgical training and provides tools to navigate the challenges training presents. The ethos of collaboration and support will aid the development of more resilient and empowered surgeons, vital in this era.

Learning is a lifelong process and academic study and professional training sessions often incorporate presentations to educate learners about a specific topic. Hayley Allan and Lisa Hadfield-Law give aesthetic practitioners essential advice on the dos and don'ts of giving presentations and recommend ways in which they can improve the calibre of their content and delivery skills

In the UK, Core Surgical Training (CST) marks the start of a surgical career, but previous experience and skills vary widely. Whilst Individual hospital Trusts offer local inductions, these are generally of a generic, administrative nature rather than advising trainees on how best to harness training opportunities. We designed a regional induction programme, 'Building Excellence in Surgical Training' (BEST) to address this, develop essential technical and non-technical skills, and engender support networks.All incoming London Core Surgical Trainees (annual cohort size 90) were invited to participate, during the week prior to commencement of training. Trainees undertook 3 modules (portfolio, surgical skills and human factors-based simulation) and a research paper presentation day. We collected qualitative and quantitative data through a structured evaluation form, pre and post course Likert-scale scores and self-assessment utilising the non-technical skills for surgeons (NOTSS) framework.972 CSTs have completed BEST over the past 12 years. In 2019, significant improvements were seen in: confidence for starting CST, 45% (n = 22/49)-83% (n = 33/40,p = 0.00045); feeling the core programme cared about them, 55% (n = 27/49)-98% (n = 41/42, p =0.00001); getting to know peers 16% (n = 8/49)-88% (n = 35/40, p =0.00001); understanding human factors 82% (n = 40/49)-95% (n = 36/38, p = 0.00427); gaining confidence of trainers, 49% (n = 23/47)-86% (n = 31/36, p = 0.00114), and ability to speak out over patient safety concerns, 78% (n = 38/49)-97% (n = 37/38,p = 0.00019). NOTSS assessments showed significant improvement across all 4 criteria (n = 142, p =0.00001).BEST equips trainees with the fundamental skills and confidence to safely embark on surgical training and provides tools to navigate the challenges training presents. The ethos of collaboration and support will aid the development of more resilient and empowered surgeons, vital in this era.

It is widely believed that it is impossible to train surgical trainees to Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT)-level in a mere 48-hour week; that trainees cannot gain sufficient exposure to surgical disease or carry out an acceptable number of procedures to gain the confidence and competence for CCT within the time now available. The European Working Time Directive (EWTD) is a reality and hospitals are already implementing strict controls to ensure its trainees do not exceed the hours they are allowed to work, resulting in a consultant-led service that further restricts training time and opportunity.

Importance An early understanding of the personality profiles of junior trainees may be valuable for supporting the professional and educational development of tomorrow’s doctors. Objective This study aims to describe the personality profile of junior trainees and to explore whether the personality profiles differed according to the level of training, specialty choice, or gender. Design The Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator was distributed electronically. Setting South West London, Health Education England South London. Participants A total of 157 junior trainees completed the personality questionnaire. Specifically, there were core surgical (n = 40), core medical (n = 24), and foundation trainees (n = 93). Results The preferential profile across all groups was Extroversion (E), Sensing (S), Feeling (F), and Perception (P). More foundation doctors favored an extrovert and sensing personality when compared with core trainees (72% vs 60.4% and 77.4% vs 57.5%, respectively). More core surgical trainees appeared to prefer Extroversion when compared with their medical counterparts (66.7% vs 54.2%). More core medical trainees favored an intuitive behavior when compared with their surgical colleagues (50% vs 35%). Significantly, more female trainees (83.3%) displayed an extrovert personality than male trainees (66.7%) did. Conclusions According to the Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator analysis, this work shows that the more junior the trainees are in their career, the more they tend to enjoy human interaction and to favor acting before thinking. The most junior trainees tend to be slightly more interested in dealing with facts rather than ideas and favor a flexible approach of life. The reducing ratio of Extroversion and Sensing in the core trainees when compared with foundation doctors may suggest that clinical experience has an effect on personality. As trainees begin to progress, they may tend to reflect more on their practice and to start thinking about more long term. These results suggest that a greater understanding of their personality preferences and how they might change with experience may help trainees to develop a greater personal and professional insight.

Courses now play an important role in surgeons’ training. Elizabeth Tissingh and colleagues look at how junior doctors and surgical trainees perceive the value of educational courses

William Halsted was an innovator of surgical training in the 20th century. Traditionally training was offered to senior professors and Halsted wished to improve this, not to change it and bring it round full circle but to take training and education to a higher level. Halsted changed the focus of training to the house officer. House officers were given graduated responsibilities including supervised surgery within an apprenticeship model. Dependent on time served and numbers of patients treated, the programme ensured that the resident surgeon would be skilled and experienced. This concept of surgical training has continued to be used successfully but has recently had to evolve with the implementation of Modernising Medical Careers and the European Working Time Directive.

The training and assessment in practice (TAIP) course has been developed by the Royal College of Surgeons of England for trainers, including programme directors, assigned educational supervisors, and clinical supervisors, to understand the current training and assessment of trainee specialty registrars (such as core surgical trainees and foundation year doctors). The course is designed to integrate the changes in the training and assessment system into everyday practice. Surgical specialty registrars level 5 to 8 and consultant surgeons. It was a unique opportunity for me to learn about the training and assessment tools used to assess surgical specialty trainees in my daily practice, at the same time as fulfilling my daily duties. In addition it taught me how to use these tools for my own benefit. The faculty consisted of Stella Vig (consultant vascular surgeon and foundation programme director at Mayday University Hospital NHS Trust) and Hayley Allan (course convenor …

The two-day theoretical and interactive Training and Assessment in Practice (TAIP) course is organised by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. It aims to equip trainers with new assessment tools that allow standardisation of assessing trainees' performance in the workplace and early identification of failing trainees. This new work-based system became essential with the reality of Modernising Medical Careers and the European Working Time Directive. The course convenor is an experienced education and training consultant, Hayley Allan, and she has a team of enthusiastic consultant surgeons, including Stella Vig.