Read New RISE Article on Patient and Family Perceptions of Residents Involvement in Surgical Care

A new Resources in Surgical Education (RISE) article is available: Promoting Patient and Family Perceptions of Resident Involvement in Surgical Care.

This new article examines the balance between increasing learner autonomy and ensuring patient safety, which is a fundamental difficulty in surgical education with a focus on the perspective of the patients. Reader will have a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in obtaining patients’ permission for residents to participate in their care, including some key points:

• Patients typically feel comfortable with resident involvement if they can be assured that the quality of their care will not be negatively affected.
• The impacts of resident involvement are mixed but overall do not appear to be a detriment to patient care.
• Though patients tend to have positive views regarding residents participating in their surgical care, most would like to be asked for their permission.
• Available literature indicates that early, transparent conversations with patients are currently the most effective means of securing permission, and attending surgeons play an important role in these discussions.