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Surgical Education: Context and Trends

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Clinical Education for the Health Professions

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Abstract

This chapter aims to establish for the reader the field of surgical education and place it within its current context. With respect to context, the author’s experience is in surgical education and training in Australia, which provides some of the detail for this chapter. It should be stated however that there is significant contextual similarity between Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

With regard to trends in surgical practice, the chapter highlights the transition from traditional apprenticeship models of training to competency-based training. This fundamental change in the nature of training has led to changes in surgical education, notably curriculum and assessment design. The advent of new education and training modalities in virtual environments and simulation are discussed, as is their purported role in the training framework.

The chapter concludes by looking beyond the outcome of competence, towards performance which is argued to be the true goal of surgical education and training. Drawing upon expertise theory, notions of routine and adaptive expertise are examined, where again it is argued that education and training should support the development of trainees who demonstrate adaptive expertise. The complexity of the clinical environment has never been greater, and will only continue to become more complex; surgical education and training must produce trainees with the ability to approach novel problems, and develop novel solutions. In this regard, surgical education and training must itself continue to adapt.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    David J. Coker

  2. Discipline of Surgery, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    David J. Coker

Authors
  1. David J. Coker
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, School of Clinical Sciences, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Debra Nestel

  2. King’s College London, London, UK

    Gabriel Reedy

  3. La Trobe University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Lisa McKenna

  4. Bond University, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Suzanne Gough

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Coker, D.J. (2023). Surgical Education: Context and Trends. In: Nestel, D., Reedy, G., McKenna, L., Gough, S. (eds) Clinical Education for the Health Professions. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3344-0_5

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