Participant Evaluation of a Novel, Multi-Institution Coach Training Workshop for Practicing Surgeons
Jason C. Pradarelli, MD, MS1,2; Steven Yule, PhD1,2,6; Nikhil Panda, MD1,3; Molly Craig2; Kurt W. Lowery3; Janaka Lagoo, MD, MPH4; Jim Knight, PhD5; Douglas S. Smink, MD, MPH, FACS1,2 1Ariadne Labs, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 2Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 3Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 4Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Duke University Health System, Durham, NC 5Kansas Coaching Project, Center for Research on Learning, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 6STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Background:
Surgical coaching is a novel strategy to improve surgeons’ intraoperative performance. How best to cultivate coaching skills in practicing surgeons is unknown. Our objective was to design and evaluate a training workshop for surgeons to adopt core principles and practical skills of surgical coaching.
Methods:
Through the Surgical Coaching for Operative Performance Enhancement (SCOPE) program, a professional development initiative for practicing surgeons, we designed a 3-hour Coach Training Workshop using evidence from the fields of surgery and education (Figure 1). Surgeon participants at 4 Harvard-affiliated hospitals completed a post-training evaluation comprising 11 questions: nine Likert-style questions and two free-response items.
Results:
Forty-one of 50 surgeon participants completed the evaluation (82% completion rate). Overall, 90% of surgeons rated the workshop "good" or "excellent." All surgeons agreed the workshop helped them "gain practical skills to be a surgical coach," and all but one perceived feeling "more confident to coach a peer surgeon because of the coaching workshop." When asked if they would recommend the workshop to a colleague, 85% responded "probably yes" or "definitely yes." Recommendations for improving the workshop emphasized expanding hands-on coaching practice simulations and providing preparatory materials to participants.
Conclusion:
This evidence-based coach training workshop was rated highly by practicing surgeons in a surgical coaching program. With focused training workshops, surgeons can gain the skills and confidence needed to coach peer surgeons.
Back to 2019 Posters
