Research

The GSEC teaches across the surgical learning trajectory, interfacing with medical pre-clerkship and clerkship students, residents, fellows, and attendings. Our goal is to train prepared, educators in a healthy environment.

The GSEC actively seeks to develop pre-clerkship medical students and pique their interest in general surgery and surgical subspecialties. We have developed multiple courses designed for early exposure to surgical concepts, technical skills, and mentors. Specifically, the GSEC has revamped SURG 205 Technical Training and Preparation for the Surgical Environment, and published the results of our novel curriculum^1,2). In addition, Surgical Education Fellow Dr. Brittany Hasty and team are preparing students for the perioperative environment through systematic, evidence-based scrub training (Watch the video on YouTube).

The GSEC has also transformed how clerkship students are taught through a flipped classroom^3,4, harnessing student self-directed learning. We are also in the midst of formalizing the sub-internship at Stanford by preparing fourth-year medical students, both visiting and local, for application to surgical residency programs.

Former Surgical Education Fellow Dr. Edward Shipper (2016-2018)—along with General Surgery Residency Program Director Dr. Marc Melcher and team—are thinking how the residency match process can be enhanced by supplemental information, such as personal characteristics and others.

Surgical Education Fellow Dr. Edmund Lee and team are recreating the GSEC's Intern Bootcamp curriculum. Starting in 2018, matched surgical residents will have the opportunity to hone their technical skills prior to arriving for the intern year via guided video instruction from Stanford experts and hands-on surgical skill development activities. Upon arrival, interns receive differentiated coaching to elevate their skills in anticipation of surgical patient interactions based on entrance skills exams.

During professional development (PD) years, supported by the leadership of Department Chair Dr. Mary Hawn, the Stanford-Surgical Policy Improvement Research and Education Center (S-SPIRE), alongside the GSEC, introduces surgical residents to research and recruitment opportunities. Through the formalized, multi-week “PD Bootcamp,” residents form camaraderie with fellow residents, network with mentors, and learn how to maximize their career options. Based on data collected from participants, the curriculum is continually improved to provide the best education and support to these developing surgical leaders (poster presentation at APDS).

Throughout the surgical residency, the Balance in Life program is supported by the Department of Surgery, Dr. Melcher, and Dr. Hawn. GSEC researchers are identifying specific ways that programmatic efforts support resident wellbeing (manuscript under review), and are inter-related with other factors such as emotional intelligence, depression, and grit. Understanding these factors have led us to also pursue research into why surgical residents leave surgery and medicine as a whole—addressing the role mistreatment and mentorship have on resident attrition. With our efforts, we are able to show positive outcomes as a result of factors supporting healthy, skilled trainees.

GSEC has strived to develop surgeons performing operations with patients first and foremost on their minds—patient safety first. This includes assessing the emotional intelligence of our trainees¹ and faculty (study underway), to better train surgeons to react appropriately in the perioperative surgical environment.

In addition, we are actively working on increasing communication in the operating room through professional training programs and perioperative cognitive aids, such as the Stanford Emergency Manual².

GSEC has also addressed the operative learning environment by attempting to mitigate student and trainee mistreatment^3,4,5,6,7 and teaching students how to reframe their experiences (citation forthcoming).