TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital Training Resources in the Dutch Surgical Residency Curricula and the Perspectives of Residents
T2 - A Thematic Analysis of Resident Interviews
AU - Feenstra, Tim M.
AU - Mak-van der Vossen, Marianne C.
AU - Schijven, Marlies P.
AU - Nieveen van Dijkum, Els J. M.
N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - BACKGROUND: Digital training resources show great promise in augmenting traditional surgical education - especially in times of social distancing and limited surgical caseload. Embedding digital resources in surgical curricula is however not current, nor common practice in Dutch hospitals. While the digital world has become part of a resident's everyday life, surprisingly little is known about surgical residents' experiences and expectations towards use of digital resources for their own surgical education. This study aims to identify digital resources currently used in Dutch surgical curricula and to describe surgical residents' perspectives towards digital education.METHODS: A series of semi-structured interviews with Dutch surgical residents were conducted until data sufficiency occurred. The interviews consisted of two parts: 1) current surgical training and implemented digital resources, and 2) future surgical training and the role of digital resources therein. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed.RESULTS: Sixteen surgical residents were interviewed - two out of each of the eight educational regions for surgery in the Netherlands. Five digital resource categories were identified and four general educational themes (requirements, advantages, disadvantages, and general education themes), overarching 13 sub-themes. In general, residents were enthusiastic with regard to using digital resources, especially when the perceived advantages supported their autonomy.CONCLUSIONS: Dutch surgical residents indicate that digital resources may support their educational experiences, but state that ideally they must be combined with much appreciated on-the-job training, and be offered to them tailored to their individual needs. No resources are considered to be a "magic bullet" in itself. The specific needs of residents and educators need to be addressed clearly in order to successfully adopt and implement digital resources on a larger scale.
AB - BACKGROUND: Digital training resources show great promise in augmenting traditional surgical education - especially in times of social distancing and limited surgical caseload. Embedding digital resources in surgical curricula is however not current, nor common practice in Dutch hospitals. While the digital world has become part of a resident's everyday life, surprisingly little is known about surgical residents' experiences and expectations towards use of digital resources for their own surgical education. This study aims to identify digital resources currently used in Dutch surgical curricula and to describe surgical residents' perspectives towards digital education.METHODS: A series of semi-structured interviews with Dutch surgical residents were conducted until data sufficiency occurred. The interviews consisted of two parts: 1) current surgical training and implemented digital resources, and 2) future surgical training and the role of digital resources therein. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed.RESULTS: Sixteen surgical residents were interviewed - two out of each of the eight educational regions for surgery in the Netherlands. Five digital resource categories were identified and four general educational themes (requirements, advantages, disadvantages, and general education themes), overarching 13 sub-themes. In general, residents were enthusiastic with regard to using digital resources, especially when the perceived advantages supported their autonomy.CONCLUSIONS: Dutch surgical residents indicate that digital resources may support their educational experiences, but state that ideally they must be combined with much appreciated on-the-job training, and be offered to them tailored to their individual needs. No resources are considered to be a "magic bullet" in itself. The specific needs of residents and educators need to be addressed clearly in order to successfully adopt and implement digital resources on a larger scale.
KW - Residency
KW - curriculum
KW - digital training
KW - interviews
KW - qualitative research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143142624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2022.10.015
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2022.10.015
M3 - Article
C2 - 36402731
SN - 1931-7204
VL - 80
SP - 457
EP - 467
JO - Journal of Surgical Education
JF - Journal of Surgical Education
IS - 3
ER -