Starting an Endoscopy Curriculum in a General Surgery Residency Program

William W Hope, MD, W. Borden Hooks III, MD, Khoi Le, MD, Cyrus A Kotwall, MD, Thomas V Clancy, MD

New Hanover Regional Medical Center

Surgeons have been instrumental in the development of gastrointestinal endoscopy with several advanced endoscopic procedures devised by surgical endoscopist. Recently, the adequacy of training for endoscopy in general surgery residency programs has been questioned. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the initiation of a formalized endoscopy training curriculum in a University affiliated Community based surgical residency training program.

All residents involved in our training program consented to taking part in our endoscopy curriculum and research associated. The project is based on the implementation of a new structured endoscopy training curriculum using multiple learning methods including didactic lectures, video education, and simulation. With implementation of this new program, we will objectively measure surgical trainee’s performance and outcomes in patients undergoing endoscopic procedures, including esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy. The initial part of the curriculum was a 10 question survey to residents assessing their experience and interest in endoscopy.

Eleven residents responded to the survey and endoscopy experience was obtained from the resident’s case log. Number of cases performed ranged from 0-35 colonoscopies and 0-30 upper endoscopies. Resident interest level was high and comfort level with endoscopic procedures varied based on PGY level. All residents subsequently completed an education module on conscious sedation achieving a grade of 80% or above on a 25 question quiz. All residents have had an introduction to the endoscopy skills lab and STEP program sponsored by SAGES and will begin monthly skills training.

We have begun a formalized monthly endoscopy curriculum which entails a didactic and skills component. Resident assessment is ongoing and will be compared to our historic controls in objective measurements such as cecal intubation time and polyp detection rate. Residents are being graded using 3 different assessment tools including GAGES and comparison data to controls will be obtained.

Session: Poster Presentation

Program Number: P148