Non-technical training in orthopedic surgery: An unrecognized need

Objectives: Surgical safety has become a raising concern over the past few decades. Many studies have shown that it is correlated to nontechnical performance rather than clinical expertise, and it can be improved if nontechnical competencies are combined with technical training in the surgical profession. The primary purposes of this study were to assess and prioritize the perceived needs of orthopedic surgeons for nontechnical skills for orthopedic surgeons in correlation to years of experience. Methods: An online survey was sent to 200 AOTrauma members in the Middle East clearly stating the study purposes and volunteer participation. A 5-point Likert scale was used to collect surgeons' ratings of the selected nontechnical topics. Results: One-hundred and nine of 200 (54.5%) invited participants responded. More than half (65.1%) being surgeons with >10 years of experience. The majority (92%) of respondents emphasized the importance of nontechnical skills training for orthopedic surgeons. Of the enlisted topics, professionalism and patient privacy scored the highest priority for junior surgeons, while more experienced surgeons ranked patient safety and teamwork as their top two desired topics. An interesting finding was that medicolegal training was rated as an increasing need as more surgical experience was gained. Conclusions: This study highlights the demand for nontechnical skills training from the orthopedic trauma surgeons' perspective. The results showed that topics such as patient safety essentials, professionalism, teamwork, and medicolegal issues came on the top of the list. Addressing this demand by creative and specialty-focused nontechnical skills courses will help to improve patient care.