Objective assessment of surgical performance and its impact on a national selection programme of candidates for higher surgical training in plastic surgery.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop and validate a transparent, fair and objective assessment programme for the selection of surgical trainees into higher surgical training (HST) in plastic surgery in the Republic of Ireland. METHODS: Thirty-four individuals applied for HST in plastic surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in the academic years 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. Eighteen were short-listed for interview and further assessment. All applicants were required to report on their undergraduate educational performance and their postgraduate professional development. Short-listed applicants completed validated objective assessment simulations of surgical skills, an interview and assessment of their suitability for a career in surgery. RESULTS: When applicants' short-listing scores were combined with their interview scores and assessment of their suitability for a career in surgery, individuals who were selected for HST in plastic surgery performed significantly better than those who were not (P<0.002). However, when the assessment of technical skills scores were added the significance level of this difference increased further (P<0.0001) as did the statistical power of the difference to 99.9%, thus increasing the robustness of the selection package. CONCLUSION: The results from this study suggest that the assessment protocol we used to select individuals for HST in plastic surgery reliably and statistically significantly discriminated between the performances of candidates.