Skills Training Curriculum for First Year Residents

Skills Orientation Curriculum for HO I

Introduction:
 The purpose of this curriculum is to provide the first year General Surgery Residents with exposure to the most commonly used surgical tools and the related techniques. The curriculum will be undertaken early on in the first two months of the Internship so as to provide the appropriate skills before embarking on their career in Surgery.

Goals and Objectives:

  1. To provide introduction to the surgical instruments utilized to increase familiarity of use before entering the operating room
  2. To enhance knowledge of various sutures
  3. To train residents in the various types of surgical knots and improve knot tying
  4. To guide Surgical Residents through minor and year-appropriate surgical procedures to enhance technical competence prior to operating on patients

Material:

  1. A supply of commonly used surgical instruments will be used to let surgical residents become familiar with their names and how to use them
  2. The commonly used sutures will be provided to discuss their properties and appropriate indications for their use
  3. We will use lightly embalmed cadavers to let surgical residents perform year-appropriate procedures. This will improve their technical skill and also provide the knowledge regarding pearls and pitfalls of these commonly performed procedures

Personnel:
 The orientation will be conducted under the direct supervision of Faculty

Schedule:

Week 1:
 1. Exposure to instruments
2. Exposure to sutures
3. Exposure to knot tying

Week 2:
 1. Central line placement
2. Chest tube placement
3. Cricothyroidotomy
4. Tracheostomy
5. Intubation		 Week 3:
 1. Wound closure techniques
2. Herniorraphy
3. Appendectomy
4. Biopsies, etc.

Week 4:
 1. Cholecystectomy
2. Gastrostomy tube placement
3. Jejunostomy tube placement
4. Bowel anastomosis