Readiness of Graduating General Surgery Residents to Perform Colorectal Procedures

Abstract

Objective: In the United States, the majority of colorectal procedures are performed primarily by nonfellowship trained general surgeons. Given that surgical technique and experience affect patient outcomes, it is important that general surgeons are well-trained to perform colorectal surgery operations. In this study, we evaluated how prepared general surgery residents were to perform colorectal procedures upon graduating residency.

Design: This was a retrospective observational cohort study. Attending ratings of residents' intraoperative performance were collected with the System for Improving and Measuring Procedural Learning application from 9/2015 to 9/2018. Descriptive analyses and Bayesian mixed models were used to determine a resident's probability of being deemed competent upon graduating residency, controlling for core vs. advanced procedure, case complexity, and rater and resident effects.

Setting: Faculty and residents within 30 teaching institutions within the Procedural Learning and Safety Collaborative (PLSC).

Patients: We sampled colorectal procedures and categorized them as core or advanced based on American Board of Surgery designations.

Results: A total of 564 residents were rated after 2102 operations (82% core, 18% advanced). A resident in their fifth year of clinical training had a 93% (95% CI 85-97%) adjusted probability of competent performance after a core procedure and 75% (95% CI 55-89%) after an advanced procedure.

Conclusions: General surgery residents were not universally deemed competent to perform colorectal procedures even at the end of residency. These gaps were more pronounced for advanced colorectal procedures. Current graduation requirements should be carefully reviewed to ensure residents are appropriately trained to meet the needs of their communities. Additionally, advanced training remains a critical resource for surgeons who will perform complex colorectal procedures in practice.

Keywords: clinical competence; colorectal surgery; competency-based education; educational measurement.