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. 2015 Oct;58(5):330-4.
doi: 10.1503/cjs.015914.

Endoscopy services and training: a national survey of general surgeons

Daniel Skubleny  1 , Noah Switzer  1 , Shahzeer Karmali  1 , Christopher de Gara  1
Affiliations

Endoscopy services and training: a national survey of general surgeons

Daniel Skubleny et al. Can J Surg. 2015 Oct.

Abstract
in English, French

Background: Delivering high-quality endoscopy services depends largely on the competence of endoscopists. General surgery residency training in endoscopy and the associated quality of endoscopy services being delivered by general surgeons have been the subject of considerable controversy. In conjunction with the Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS) executive board, we formulated a survey to evaluate the general state of endoscopy practice and training among general surgeons in Canada.

Methods: The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. General surgeons who are members of CAGS were selected to participate in the study and were emailed a link to the online questionnaire regarding the importance of endoscopy. They were asked to compare their training to resident training today.

Results: Sixty-nine surveys were completed. The majority of general surgeons (95.7%) indicated that endoscopy was an important skill to possess, and more than 85.5% used endoscopy in their own practices. However, nearly half (46.4%) felt that general surgery endoscopy training in Canada is currently inadequate to produce competent endoscopists. The main qualitative themes emerging from the survey were the inadequacy of current postgraduate endoscopy training (37.5%) and the absence of standardization in training (25.0%).

Conclusion: Endoscopy is considered integral to academic and community general surgeons' practices; however, the adequacy of training seems to be questioned. Postgraduate training in endoscopy needs to be formalized and standardized, with a greater emphasis placed on teaching endoscopy.

Contexte: La qualité des services d’endoscopie est largement tributaire de la compétence des endoscopistes. La formation en endoscopie pendant la résidence en chirurgie générale et la qualité connexe des services d’endoscopie fournis par les chirurgiens généraux font l’objet d’une importante controverse. En collaboration avec le conseil de direction de l’Association canadienne des chirurgiens généraux (ACCG), nous avons produit un sondage pour évaluer l’état global, chez les chirurgiens généraux au Canada, de la pratique et de la formation en matière d’endoscopie.

Méthodes: L’étude s’est effectuée sous forme de sondage transversal. Des chirurgiens généraux membres de l’ACCG ont été choisis pour participer à l’étude et ont reçu par courriel un lien vers le questionnaire en ligne sur l’importance de l’endoscopie. On leur a demandé de comparer leur formation à celle que reçoivent maintenant les médecins résidents.

Résultats: En tout, 69 questionnaires ont été remplis. Les chirurgiens généraux ont indiqué en majorité (95,7 %) que l’endoscopie constituait une importante technique à maîtriser, et plus de 85,5 % l’utilisent dans leur pratique. Presque la moitié (46,4 %) étaient toutefois d’avis que la formation actuelle en endoscopie en chirurgie générale au Canada ne peut produire des endoscopistes compétents. Les principaux thèmes qualitatifs que dégage le sondage portent sur la déficience de la formation en endoscopie que reçoivent actuellement les résidents (37,5 %) et sur le manque de normalisation de la formation (25,0 %).

Conclusion: On considère que l’endoscopie fait partie intégrante des pratiques universitaires et communautaires des chirurgiens généraux, mais on semble douter que la formation soit adéquate. Il faut structurer et normaliser la formation en endoscopie que reçoivent les résidents et insister davantage sur son enseignement.

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