Integrating technical and non-technical skills coaching in an acute trauma surgery team training: Is it too much?

Abstract

Objective: Research on effective integration of technical and non-technical skills in surgery team training is sparse. In a previous study we found that surgical teachers predominantly coached on technical and hardly on non-technical skills during the Definitive Surgical and Anesthetic Trauma Care (DSATC) integrated acute trauma surgery team training. This study aims to investigate whether the priming of teachers could increase the amount of non-technical skills coaching during such a training.

Design: Coaching activities of 12 surgical teachers were recorded on audio and video. Six teachers were primed on non-technical skills coaching prior to the training. Six others received no priming and served as controls. Blind observers reviewed the recordings of 2 training scenario's and scored whether the observed behaviors were directed on technical or non-technical skills. We compared the frequency of the non-technical skills coaching between the primed and the non-primed teachers and analyzed for differences according to the trainees' level of experience.

Setting: Surgical teachers coached trainees during the highly realistic DSATC integrated acute trauma surgery team training. Trainees performed damage control surgery in operating teams on anesthetized porcine models during 6 training scenario's.

Participants: Twelve experienced surgical teachers participated in this study.

Results: Coaching on non-technical skills was limited to about 5%. The primed teachers did not coach more often on non-technical skills than the non-primed teachers. We found no differences in the frequency of non-technical skills coaching based on the trainees' level of experience.

Conclusion: Priming experienced surgical teachers does not increase the coaching on non-technical skills. The current DSATC acute trauma surgery team training seems too complex for integrating training on technical and non-technical skills.

Competencies: Patient care, Practice based learning and improvement.

Keywords: Hands-on training; Non-technical skills; Simulation team training; Surgical education; Teaching behavior; Technical skills.