IMPORTANCE Although projections of surgical workforce predict an increased need for general surgeons, especially in rural areas, graduates of residency programs increasingly enter urban or metropolitan specialty practice. OBJECTIVE To determine whether fourth-year residents at a hospital in a rural setting were more likely to enter general surgery practice than a specialty. DESIGN, SETTING,...

Background  Both general and technique-specific assessments of technical skill have been validated in surgical education. The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) and the global operative assessment of laparoscopic skills (GOALS) rating scales using a high-fidelity porcine laparoscopic cholecystectomy model. ...

HYPOTHESIS Usage of a Web-based educational tool will improve residents' scores on the American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE). DESIGN Before and after trial. SETTING Academic surgical residency in a tertiary care university hospital. PARTICIPANTS Nineteen postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and PGY2 residents. INTERVENTION All PGY1 and PGY2 residents were given unlimited acce...

Although virtual reality simulators have established construct validity, no studies have proven transfer of skills from a simulator to improved in vivo surgical skill. The current authors hypothesized that simulation training would improve residents' basic arthroscopic performance and safety. Twenty-two orthopedic surgery trainees were randomized into simulation or standard practice groups. At ...

OBJECTIVES The goal of resident selection is twofold: (1) select candidates who will be successful residents and eventually successful practitioners and (2) avoid selecting candidates who will be unsuccessful residents and/or eventually unsuccessful practitioners. Traditional tools used to select residents have well-known limitations. The Hartman Value Profile (HVP) is a proven adjuvant tool to...

Background and Objectives: Operating room (OR) scheduling is key to optimal operating room productivity. The significant uncertainty associated with surgery duration renders scheduling of surgical operation a challenging task. This paper proposes a novel computational stochastic model to optimize scheduling of surgeries with uncertain durations. The model considers various surgical operation co...

OBJECTIVE Urology practice has undergone several changes in recent years mainly related to novel technologies introduced. We aimed to get the residents' perspective on the current residency program in Israel and propose changes in it. METHODS A web-based survey was distributed among urology residents. RESULTS 61 residents completed the survey out of 95 to whom it was sent (64% compliance). ...

BACKGROUND When surgeons decide to become surgeons has important implications. If the decision is made prior to or early in medical school, surgical education can be more focused on surgical diseases and resident skills. METHODS To determine when surgeons - compared with their nonsurgical colleagues - decide on their medical path, residents in surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gyneco...