Ohio State’s OR Coaching Project provides residents more immediate review of specific surgical skills that may impact their ability to become independent surgeons. A dedicated observer or “coach” is able to focus exclusively on the resident during surgery, observing even small issues such as how lights are set or how the resident moves and adjusts during the procedure. This kind of specific feedback only enhances comments from the attending, who is responsible for all aspects of the operation and can’t afford such exclusive focus on the resident.
Following each observed operation, the attending, resident and project leaders—E. Christopher Ellison, MD, and Phoenix Chen, PhD, MS—then fill out a Surgical Entrustable Professional Activities (SEPAs) evaluation. “The goal is to help residents understand the positive impact of even small procedural changes and help them correct potentially negative habits before they have become engrained,” explains Dr. Ellison.
During her chief year, Kara Rossfeld, MD, was part the first class to benefit from the OR Coaching Project. “It was an incredibly helpful time to do that because it’s really in that year that you’re trying to polish and understand what you need to do to become an independent operator,” she says. “It drove me to think about operations in a different way and how I’d want to do them independently.”
To view a video of Dr. Rossfeld’s experience and gain program insight, click here.