TY - JOUR
T1 - Critical assessment of the head and neck clinical skills of general surgery residents
AU - Sloan, David A.
AU - Donnelly, Michael B.
AU - Schwartz, Richard W.
AU - Vásconez, Henry C.
AU - Plymale, Margaret
AU - Kenady, Daniel E.
PY - 1998/3
Y1 - 1998/3
N2 - Head and neck surgery is an important part of general surgery. There is, however, little information about the quality of residents' clinical skills in this important field. In an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), residents encounter multiple patients with various clinical problems and are rated by faculty members using objective criteria. This study was undertaken to assess the head and neck surgery skills of a group of general surgical residents. Fifty-one general surgery residents examined the same nine patients with head and neck disease. Faculty members graded each clinical interaction according to preset objective criteria. Both actual (e.g., thyroid nodule, oral cancer follow-up examination) and simulated (e.g., dysphagia) patients were used in the OSCE. The reliability of the examination was assessed by coefficient α. The construct validity was determined by a two-way analysis of variance with one repeated measure. The reliability was 0.75 for the clinical examination. Performance varied by level of training: Residents performed at a higher level than interns (p < 0.0001), but overall scores were poor (mean score 55%). Important deficits in skills were identified at all levels of training. It is concluded that more attention should be focused on specific outcome assessments of surgical training programs and on strategies for upgrading the clinical skills of surgical residents.
AB - Head and neck surgery is an important part of general surgery. There is, however, little information about the quality of residents' clinical skills in this important field. In an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), residents encounter multiple patients with various clinical problems and are rated by faculty members using objective criteria. This study was undertaken to assess the head and neck surgery skills of a group of general surgical residents. Fifty-one general surgery residents examined the same nine patients with head and neck disease. Faculty members graded each clinical interaction according to preset objective criteria. Both actual (e.g., thyroid nodule, oral cancer follow-up examination) and simulated (e.g., dysphagia) patients were used in the OSCE. The reliability of the examination was assessed by coefficient α. The construct validity was determined by a two-way analysis of variance with one repeated measure. The reliability was 0.75 for the clinical examination. Performance varied by level of training: Residents performed at a higher level than interns (p < 0.0001), but overall scores were poor (mean score 55%). Important deficits in skills were identified at all levels of training. It is concluded that more attention should be focused on specific outcome assessments of surgical training programs and on strategies for upgrading the clinical skills of surgical residents.
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U2 - 10.1007/s002689900375
DO - 10.1007/s002689900375
M3 - Article
C2 - 9494413
AN - SCOPUS:0031939022
SN - 0364-2313
VL - 22
SP - 229
EP - 235
JO - World Journal of Surgery
JF - World Journal of Surgery
IS - 3
ER -