53. Resident training and the dictated operative report - A national perspectives

Operative dictation training is a poorly studied area of surgical resident education and there is currently no literature on the national experience with operative dictation training in Canada. We therefore undertook a web-based survey of residents and program directors in general surgery training programs in Canada to determine if there is an ongoing desire for formal operative dictation training. Every resident and program director in English speaking General Surgery programs in Canada was contacted by email and asked to participate in the study. A secure, web based survey program was developed to conduct the survey and collect the data. The survey contained questions regarding comfort level with dictation, feedback on dictations and methods of dictation training employed by the individual residents and the resident training programs. Two hundred and seventy-four residents and 11 program directors responded to the survey (70.4% and 78.5% response rate, respectively). Among residents, 201 residents (73.3%) reported that their dictations were in need of improvement while 191 residents (69.7%) requested further training in dictation. Two-hundred and six residents (75.2%) reported that their training program did not employ any formal methods to help improve their dictations. Furthermore, 153 residents (55.8%) had never received feedback on their dictations. Ten program directors (90.9%) felt that residency programs should include formal training in operative dictation. Unfortunately, half of these program directors could not identify any formal methods currently being employed in their training programs, this despite the fact that 45.5% of program directors could identify specific instances where direct patient care was negatively affected by a poor operative report. Both program directors and residents identified operative dictation templates and formal feedback on dictations as the two interventions they would like to see instituted to improve operative dictations in their residency training programs. Residents and program director recognize a need for the development of formal operative dictation training in Canada. Eichholz AC, Van Voorhis BJ, Sorosky JI, Smith BJ, Sood AK. Operative note dictation: should it be taught routinely in residency programs? Obstetrics and Gynecology 2004; 103:342-6. Menzin AW, Spitzer M. Teaching operative dictation. A survey of obstetrics/gynecology residency program directors. Journal of Reproductive Medicine 2003; 48:850-2. Moore RA. The dictated operative note: important but is it being taught? Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2000; 190:639-40.