The Blue Ribbon Committee II Report and Recommendations on Surgical Education and Training in the United States: 2024

Abstract

Objective: An expert panel made recommendations to optimize surgical education and training based on the effects of contemporary challenges.

Background: The inaugural Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC I) proposed sweeping recommendations for surgical education and training in 2004. In light of those findings, a second BRC (BRC II) was convened to make recommendations to optimize surgical training considering the current landscape in medical education.

Methods: BRC II was a panel of 67 experts selected on the basis of experience and leadership in surgical education and training. It was organized into subcommittees which met virtually over the course of a year. They developed recommendations, along with the Steering Committee, based on areas of focus and then presented them to the entire BRC II. The Delphi method was chosen to obtain consensus, defined as ≥80% agreement among the panel. Cronbach α was computed to assess the internal consistency of 3 Delphi rounds.

Results: Of the 50 recommendations, 31 obtained consensus in the following aspects of surgical training (# of consensus recommendation/# of proposed): Workforce (1/5); Medical Student Education (3/8); Work Life Integration (4/6); Resident Education (5/7); Goals, Structure, and Financing of Training (5/8); Education Support and Faculty Development (5/6); Research Training (7/9); and Educational Technology and Assessment (1/1). The internal consistency was good in Rounds 1 and 2 and acceptable in Round 3.

Conclusions: BRC II used the Delphi approach to identify and recommend 31 priorities for surgical education in 2024. We advise establishing a multidisciplinary surgical educational group to oversee, monitor, and facilitate implementation of these recommendations.

FIGURE 1

The process used for the work of Blue Ribbon Committee II. The goal from the beginning was to be as inclusive and transparent as possible with frequent virtual meetings of the subcommittees and the full panel. An in-person meeting was held on November 14 and 15, 2023 and allowed for discussion of all recommendations proposed by the subcommittees and the steering committee. Following this there were 2 additional virtual meeting designed to allow in depth discussion of the proposed recommendations before the Delphi analysis.

FIGURE 2

The Delphi method was chosen to obtain consensus defined as >80% agreement among panel members. Three rounds of voting occurred with frequent email reminders. After each round those recommendations reaching consensus were removed from the subsequent survey rounds, the statements were not modified,and additional information provided as indicated in the figure.