“Residents as Teachers” Workshop Improves Knowledge, Confidence, and Feedback Skills for General Surgery Residents

Objective: Surgical residents receive limited formal training in education, yet they are expected to teach medical students and one another. A “Residents as Teachers” curriculum was developed and implemented to improve residents’ knowledge of educational strategies, confidence in teaching abilities, and quality of feedback given to learners. Design: A 6-hour workshop was delivered at an academic general surgery residency program. It included 3 interactive sessions: “Teaching on the wards”, “How to give and receive feedback”, and “Teaching in the operating room (OR)”. Pre- and postsession surveys were administered to evaluate participants’ knowledge and confidence regarding teaching skills. Standard statistical analyses were used to compare pre- and postcurriculum scores. Setting: General surgery residents at Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center Program attended a 6-hour educational seminar entitled “Residents as Teachers”. Three attending surgeons with expertise in surgical education administered the curriculum. Participants: Twenty-four residents completed the course and surveys (5 PGY-5s, 6 PGY-4s, 4 PGY-3s, 5 PGY-2s, and 4 PGY-1s). Results: On a 5-point Likert scale, residents' self-rating of teaching skills (pre = 1.8, post = 3.04, p < 0.001) and understanding of adult learning (pre = 1.88, post = 4.42, p < 0.001) improved significantly. The greatest gain was in describing effective strategies for teaching in the OR (pre = 1.75, post = 4.38, p < 0.001). Residents reported improved understanding of effective feedback characteristics (pre = 2.5, post = 4.33, p < 0.001), and felt more prepared to provide feedback to learners (pre = 2.73, post = 3.17, p = 0.01). Scores on 5 of 10 knowledge-based questions significantly improved following the intervention. All participants agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop improved the program's surgical education curriculum (mean score 4.42 of 5). Conclusions: A “Residents as Teachers” workshop improved resident confidence in teaching and feedback skills, particularly for intraoperative instruction, and improved knowledge in the 3 specific educational domains included in the session.