ABC of Surgical Teaching: Time to Consider a Global Blueprint for Holistic Education

Abstract

Background: Educating and equipping students and trainees into clinicians capable of meeting healthcare demands and service provision needs is essential. Unprecedented events like COVID-19 pandemic, highlight urgent need for reformation of training to ensure high quality education is maintained. To this end, we describe an innovative and globally adaptable blueprint for establishing a surgical curriculum, aiming to optimize preparation of future surgeons. Methods: We used a structured protocol to synthesize evidence from previous systematic reviews focused on surgical education alongside a series of focused original educational studies. This approach allowed incorporation of prospectively applied novel ideas into the existing landscape of published evidence. All material used for this proof of concept derives from the outputs of a dedicated research network for surgical education (eMERG). Results: We propose the foundation blueprint framework called "Omnigon iG4" as a globally applicable model. It allows adaptation to individual local educational environments for designing, appraising and/or refining surgical curricula. We also describe the "Omnigon iG4 Hexagon Pragmatic Model," a novel perspective model which assesses the performance of our blueprint in a multi-layer fashion. This "Hexagon" model is the first to introduce pragmatic outcomes in curricula performance assessment. Conclusions: This proof of concept, "Omnigon iG4," proposes an adaptable version of a curriculum blueprint. The framework allows educators to establish a surgical curriculum with the ability to map out competencies, permitting full control over their intended learning outcomes. This can form the basis for developing globally adaptable multifaceted Simulation-Based learning (SBL) courses or even surgical curricula for undergraduates.

A scoping review on adaptations of clinical education for medical students during COVID-19

“…COVID-19 has been the spark that accelerated the implementation of already existing technology in medicine. Students being excluded from the clinical space led to many novel ideas from clinical teachers who used the available technology to facilitate real patient contact in the ward or outpatient setting [ 29 , 38 , 58 , [60] , [61] , [62] , 65 ]. Even without real patients, the passion of clinical teachers has led them to become simulated patient themselves [ 36 , 37 ] and taught using clinical case scenarios allowing access to real patient imaging and EMR [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Teaching and Assessment of Medical Students During Complex Multifactorial Team-Based Tasks: The “Virtual on Call” Case Study

“… 2 , 3 The course concept and curriculum have been described in the literature previously; 5 , 10 the course concept has evolved throughout time using certain evidence and expert experience 7 to facilitate the vision of holistic education. 8 , 9 , 11 Apart from the non-technical skills core, none of the other aforementioned modules are directly related to this current study. iVOC is a pilot novel study, which aims to expand the ESMSC curriculum in the direction of team-based non-technical skills education.…”

In vivo Simulation-Based Learning for Undergraduate Medical Students: Teaching and Assessment

“…13,14 This evidence was previously synthesised using a research concept named as "FOOVEL (Feedback studies, Objective Outcomes, Validated tool studies, Expert opinions, synthesis of the Literature)". 15 This primarily involves a multi-modality evidence synthesis which includes a series of narrative 16 and systematic reviews 17 focused on SBL for undergraduates (eviCORE [18][19][20][21], with focused original studies on in vivo SBL for undergraduates. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] This work has been part of a dedicated research network.…”

“…From the iG4 research, a separate version was produced (omnigon iG4), which can act as an adaptable global blueprint when designing such complex courses. 18…”

“…An additional benefit from the iG4 concept is the introduction of a second-generation hexagon (6-pylon) pragmatic model which assesses the overall performance of the course. 18 Aspired by Harvard Business School's "balanced scorecard model", the "hexagon model" assesses: how customers (stakeholders) see the course curriculum, what trainers and organisers should excel in (internal perspective), if we can continue to improve and create value (research and innovation), and how course organisers appear to shareholders (financial perspective, adaptability, and sustainability in a global setting). The ESMSC…”