Background: Since 2012, the AHPBA has hosted an annual HPB Fellows' Course at Carolinas Medical Center. All fellows training in an accredited HPB fellowship are eligible to attend. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this conference and assess possible areas of improvement.
Methods: The Carolinas Fellows' Course (CFC) is a structured educational activity involving didactics, skills labs, and live case presentations. The course emphasizes minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) technique. This is a retrospective review of a survey emailed to 95 fellows who have attended the course over a 7-year period.
Results: Fifty-two attendees completed the survey (54.7% response rate). Sixty-eight percent of respondents now practice primarily HPB surgery. Seventy-six percent agreed that the CFC encouraged them to incorporate IOUS into their practice, while 74% were encouraged to incorporate MIS HPB procedures into their practice. Eighty percent felt that the course laid groundwork for long term communication with peers.
Conclusion: The study demonstrates that a multisite instructional course can be an effective way to encourage the development of new skills, boost operational confidence, impact real world practices, and foster long term communication and networking among fellows after graduation.
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