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OBJECTIVES:
Mock oral examinations (MOE) can be a valuable tool not only for knowledge assessment, but also for preparation of trainess for the surgical certifying examinations. Use of this educational tool is not standardized in vascular surgery training programs, and therefore we sought to determine its current use in U.S. vascular surgery residencies and fellowships.
METHODS:
Program directors of the 108 U.S. vascular surgery residency and fellowship training programs were contacted via email and asked to participate in an anonymous online survey. The survey questioned respondents on the importance of MOE in vascular surgery training, details of its current use, barriers to implementation, as well as preparedness of trainees to sit for the vascular certifying exam (CE). Comparisons were made between programs that use MOE and those who don’t, as well as programs with residency programs and those with only fellowships.
RESULTS:
Fifty-four percent (59/108) of programs completed the survey. Although the majority of respondents believed that MOE are important for both vascular residents and fellows (86% vs. 81% respectively), only 51% (30/59) of programs currently use them. The most common reason given for using mock oral examinations was to provide feedback to trainees about their readiness for the CE (27/30, 90%). Of those programs not giving mock orals, 69% (20/29) expected their trainees to get mock oral experiences at national conferences. The most common barriers to implementation of MOE were availability of faculty (15/29, 52%) and questions (13/29, 45%) for the examination. The most common other methods used to test a trainee’s preparedness for the CE included questioning in the OR, during morbidity and mortality conference, and during everyday care. Irrespective of whether they used mock orals or not, 29% (17/59) of respondents believed vascular fellows were better prepared for the CE than vascular residents.
CONCLUSIONS:
According to this survey result, MOE’s are regarded as a highly valuable tool in the preparation for the vascular CE. However, it is still not a commonly adopted practice, due to many different variables. Interestingly, a number of programs believed that vascular fellows were more prepared to pass the CE than vascular residents, regardless of whether or not MOE’s were used. This may warrant further investigation into more rigorous institutional preparation for the vascular CE’s for vascular residents.