A structured teaching module for postoperative follow-up in urology residency training: development and evaluation of an IMDB-based educational tool

BACKGROUND: Teaching postoperative follow-up for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is challenging during brief urology rotations. We evaluated a structured module based on a simplified risk model (IMDB: venous invasion, tumor size ≥ 7 cm, systemic symptoms, renal sinus fat invasion) to improve residents' knowledge and clinical decision-making. METHODS: Forty residents who completed the 8-10 h module (2022-2025) were enrolled in this retrospective pre-post study. The module used a Postoperative Health Management Passport integrating lectures, simulations, outpatient practice, and debriefing. Knowledge was assessed by validated questionnaire (pre/post). Decision-making was scored on follow-up card assignments (0-15). Satisfaction was measured by 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Knowledge scores increased from 65.75 ± 5.13 to 90.88 ± 4.92 (mean gain 25.13 ± 4.00; t = 39.71, P < 0.0001). Decision-making scores: IMDB accuracy 4.52 ± 0.64, plan rationality 4.19 ± 0.65, patient education 3.93 ± 0.81. Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC = 0.97), pass rate 92.5% (37/40). Satisfaction was 96.1%; 100% would recommend the module. Knowledge gain did not correlate with decision-making scores (all r ≤ 0.07, P > 0.05). Second-year residents improved most (27.00 ± 4.14 points, F = 4.307, P = 0.0208). CONCLUSIONS: The IMDB-based module effectively enhanced residents' knowledge and decision-making. However, because the decision-making assessment showed near-ceiling performance, the absence of a significant correlation between knowledge gain and decision-making scores should be interpreted with caution; a more sensitive assessment instrument is needed to meaningfully examine this relationship in future studies. The "learn-practice-reflect" framework offers a reproducible model for integrating clinical tools into residency training.