Toward an objective assessment of technical skills: a national survey of surgical program directors in Saudi Arabia

Figures & data

Table 1 CanMEDS and ACGME core competencies

CanMEDS	ACGME
• Medical expert	• Medical knowledge
• Communicator	• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Collaborator	• Patient care
• Manager	• System-based practice
• Health advocate	• Practice-based learning and improvement
• Scholar	• Professionalism
• Professionalism

Abbreviations: CanMEDS, Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists; ACGME, Accreditation Council for graduate Medical Education.

Figure 1 Distribution of respondents by specialty.

Abbreviations: GS, general surgery; OBGY, obstetrics and gynecology; ORL, otorhinolaryngology; OMF, oral maxillofacial surgery.

Table 2 Demographic data of the programs surveyed

Specialty (number of respondents/number of total program directors surveyed)	Mean number of residents evaluate/year (range)	Mean number of residents accepted each year (range)	Mean number of consultants (range)	Consultant to resident ratio	Number of programs with a simulation lab
Urology (n = 16/20)	5.6	1.18	5.56	1:1	4
	(1–20)	(1–2)	(2–11)
Neurosurgery (n = 8/11)	5.5	2	4.5	1:1.2	2
	(1–8)	(1–4)	(3–12)
GS (n = 11/18)	26	3.9	11.63	1: 2.24	3
	(5–60)	(2–6)	(5–24)
OBGY (n = 5/16)	15.2	3.2	13.4	1:1.33	2
	(4–22)	(2–5)	(7–21)
OMF (n = 3/8)	7.33	3	4	1:1.83	0
	(4–12)	(2–5)	(3–5)
ORL (n = 7/14)	8.1	3.71	5.86	1:1.38	1
	(3–12)	(1–10)	(3–14)
Plastic surgery (n = 4/5)	10.75	3.5	4.25	1: 2.53	1
	(2–20)	(1–6)	(3–6)
Orthopedics (n = 11/24)	14.36	3.18	7.3	1:1.97	1
	(4–30)	(1–10)	(3–12)

Abbreviations: GS, general surgery; OBGY, obstetrics and gynecology; ORL, otorhinolaryngology; OMF, oral maxillofacial surgery.

Figure 2 Distribution of evaluation technique by specialty.

Abbreviations: GS, general surgery; OBGY, obstetrics and gynecology; ORL, otorhinolaryngology; OMF, oral maxillofacial surgery.

Table 3 Distribution of assessment tools used by specialty

Specialty	OSATS	Hand motion analysis	Videotaped analysis	Residents surgical portfolios
GS	1	2	4	5
Urology	1	2	3	10
ORL	1	0	1	3
Neurosurgery	0	1	0	3
OMF	0	1	1	3
Plastic	0	1	0	4
OBGY	1	1	0	2
Orthopedics	3	0	1	5

Abbreviations: OSATS, Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills; GS, general surgery; OBGY, obstetrics and gynecology; ORL, otorhinolaryngology; OMF, oral maxillofacial surgery.

Table 4 The association between remediation and both different assessment tools and the presence of a remediation mechanism

		Remediation		Odds ratio (95% CI)	P-value
		Yes	No
OSATS	Yes	4	3	1.53	0.596
	No	27	31	(0.314–7.457)
Videotaped analysis	Yes	8	2	9.85	0.026
	No	23	32	(1.080–28.675)
Surgical residents’ portfolios	Yes	17	18	1.08	0.878
	No	14	16	(0.406–2.865)
Remediation	Yes	15	4	7.03	0.001
Mechanism	No	16	30	(1.997–24.759)

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OSATS, Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills.

Figure 3 Program directors’ satisfaction regarding technical skills assessment.