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. 2018 Aug;164(2):185-188.
doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2018.03.009. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

Dynamics within peer-to-peer surgical coaching relationships: Early evidence from the Michigan Bariatric Surgical Collaborative

Sarah P Shubeck  1 , Arielle E Kanters  2 , Gurjit Sandhu  2 , Caprice C Greenberg  3 , Justin B Dimick  2
Affiliations

Dynamics within peer-to-peer surgical coaching relationships: Early evidence from the Michigan Bariatric Surgical Collaborative

Sarah P Shubeck et al. Surgery. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Many coaching methods have been well studied and formalized, but the approach most commonly used in the continuing education of surgeons is peer coaching. Through a qualitative thematic analysis, we sought to determine if surgeons can comfortably and effectively transition to a co-learner dynamic for effective peer coaching.

Methods: This qualitative study evaluated 20 surgeons participating in a video review coaching exercise in October 2015. Each conversation was coded by 2 authors focusing on the dynamics of the coach and coachee relationship. Once coded, thematic analysis was performed.

Results: Two themes emerged in our analysis: (1) Participants often alternated between the roles of coach and coachee, even though they received assigned roles prior to the start of the session. For example, a coach would defer to the coachee, suggesting they felt unqualified to teach a particular technique or procedure. (2) The interactions demonstrated bidirectional exchange of ideas with both participants offering expertise when appropriate. For example, the coach and coachee frequently engaged in back-and-forth discussion about techniques, instrument selection, and intraoperative decision-making.

Conclusion: Our qualitative analysis demonstrates that surgeons naturally and effectively assume co-learner roles when participating in an early surgical coaching experience.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: Dr. Dimick is a CoFounder of ArborMetrix, a company that makes software for profiling hospital quality and efficiency. For the remaining authors none were declared.

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