Surgical videos used for face-to-face and virtual oral assessment: Experiences of examiners and trainees

Background. Varied assessment strategies are required in the process of deciding whether a surgeon is competent to graduate. Despite doubts about the reliability of the oral examination and the challenges of standardising examiner practices, the oral examination remains an important assessment method in surgical exit examinations. Structured oral examinations may facilitate the measurement of course outcomes. Objectives. To explore the experiences of surgical trainees and examiners using a video-assisted, mock, structured oral examination (SOE) as an Methods. This descriptive study incorporated procedural videos in a case-based SOE format. One group of trainees had face-to-face contact with the examiner, and the other was assessed on an online platform, e.g. Microsoft Teams, with a remote examiner. After the SOE, a focus group interview was conducted with surgical trainees and individual interviews with examiners. Results. Themes were developed from the interview transcripts. These themes centred around the use of videos in this examination format and technical issues during the SOE. Further themes highlighted the standardisation of questions and preparation of examiners. Conclusion. Overall, procedural videos as part of the mock SOE were experienced as valuable. Adding video recordings to the online platform posed administrative and technical challenges. However, the trainees and the examiners could log in from peripheral clinical training sites, which was experienced as an advantage. This study provides a glimpse into the application of procedural videos during SOEs as an assessment tool from the perspective of surgical trainees and examiners. Efforts should focus on standardisation of the examination format, optimising technical issues and improving examiner preparation.