Twelve tips for optimising learning for postgraduate doctors in the operating theatre

Abstract

Learning in the operating theatre forms a critical part of postgraduate medical education. Postgraduate doctors present a diverse cohort of learners with a wide range of learning needs that will vary by their level of experience and curriculum requirements. With evidence of both trainee dissatisfaction with the theatre learning experience and reduced time spent in the operating theatre, which has been exacerbated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is vital that every visit to the operating theatre is used as a learning opportunity. We have devised 12 tips aimed at both learners and surgeons to optimise learning in the operating theatre, set out into four domains: educational context, preparation, learning in theatre, feedback and reflection. These tips have been created by a process of literature review and acknowledgment of established learning theory, with further discussion amongst surgical trainees, senior surgical faculty, surgical educators and medical education faculty.

Keywords:

• Surgery
• postgraduate
• education
• operating theatre

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Benjamin D. Chatterton

Benjamin Dougal Chatterton, BSc (Hons), BM BS, MSc, DipMedEd, FRCS (Tr&Orth), is a senior registrar in Trauma & Orthopaedics with an interest in children’s Orthopaedic surgery and surgical education.

Nikhil Sharma

Nikhil Sharma, MBChB, PgCertMedEd, DipFM, AFHEA, FRCS (Tr & Orth), is a senior registrar in Trauma & Orthopaedics with an interest in knee surgery and surgical education.

Eliot L. Rees

Eliot Lloyd Rees, MBChB, MA, PGDip, FHEA, is a lecturer in Medical Education at Keele University and NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in General Practice at University College London.

Lisa Hadfield-Law

Lisa Hadfield-Law, SRN, MSc, FAcadMEd, FFSTEd(Hon), is an education advisor to the British Orthopaedic Association and AO UK and Ireland.

Paul J. Jermin

Paul Joseph Jermin, MBChB (Hons), FRCS (Tr&Orth), is a consultant Orthopaedic surgeon with a specialist interest in knee surgery, director of medical education at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and an honorary senior lecturer at Keele University.

Robin Banerjee

Robin Banerjee, MRCS, FRCS (Tr&Orth), PgCertMedEd, is a consultant Orthopaedic surgeon with a specialist interest in arthroplasty, and is training programme director for the Oswestry/Stoke Orthopaedic training programme in the West Midlands deanery.

Nigel T. Kiely

Nigel Terence Kiely, FRCS (Tr&Orth), is a consultant Orthopaedic surgeon with a specialist interest in children’s Orthopaedic surgery, and is the area training programme director for Trauma & Orthopaedics for the West midlands deanery.