Preparatory surgical bootcamp: An effective form of training with a positive impact on self-confidence and procedural skills of the residents

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a bootcamp for new residents in surgery, in terms of both knowledge and skills improvement and psychological support.Design: Prospective inclusion of all the 59 new residents in surgery from 2018 to 2020. Analysis of their perception of the training and comparison of the bootcamp and control groups (n = 9, including the residents who could not attend the bootcamp) with respect to the results of their skills evaluations and surgical knowledge.Setting: A two-day bootcamp is organized every year in October since 2013 at the All'Sims simulation center (University Hospital, Angers, France) just before the beginning of the internship. A subsequent skills evaluation takes place partly in the operating room and partly as an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).Participants: New residents from the different surgical specialties and gynecology, after having given their written consent.Results: Among the 50 residents who attended the bootcamp, knowledge in surgical skills improved by 10% (p<0.001). The median skills score on each OSCE station was at least one point higher in the bootcamp group than in the control group, predominantly in the suturing task (13.9+/-3.0 vs 11.5 +/- 1.6, p = 0.03). The reported usefulness level of the different surgical skills training when evaluated in consideration of daily practice varied from 50% to 95%. Feelings of ease and competency were quite well correlated with the reported usefulness of a given skill, especially since the task was a more generic one. Conclusion: Preparatory courses are of great interest for all surgical specialties as they improve procedural skills and knowledge as well as self-confidence during the first weeks of a resident's internship. As medical training continues to vary significantly between the different universities, such surgical curricula should be developed at a national level to standardize the surgical level of all new residents