Training Opportunities in Medical and Surgical Education

Abstract

As a surgeon, the requirement for academic clinical practice is completion of an accredited residency program with or without a fellowship, followed by appropriate board certification. It was classically assumed that those who complete this rigorous training process in an academic setting naturally developed the teaching skills necessary to teach the next generation of academic surgeons. To date, no specific training paradigm has been defined for individuals desiring to become surgical educators. Historically, volunteer academic faculty have shouldered the responsibility of teaching medical students and residents with little to no additional insights beyond what they were exposed to during their own curriculum. Unfortunately, their teaching commitments were sometimes viewed as a distraction from the tasks of grant application and publication of research efforts. With the added pressures of research and clinical productivity, the ability and the time dedicated to teaching have been placed low on the prioritization of academic tasks. The “student” generational gap has changed since most of us have trained, as educational technology and techniques have evolved to capture the attention of our trainees.