Training and assessment of technical skills and competency in cardiac surgery

The assessment of surgical competency has become a priority for both surgical educators and licensing boards. Surgical educators must incorporate rigorous, reliable, and valid means of assessment into residency programs. Objective evaluation of technical skills has been extensively explored in various surgical specialties, but its role in cardiac surgery has not been well studied and there is limited experience with integration into the educational curricula. Several cardiac and vascular surgery simulation models have been designed and evaluated, ranging from simple low-fidelity models using inert materials to a complex, computer-controlled, high-fidelity simulator using biological tissues to practice entire surgical cases. Most of the available models have not been well validated or integrated into educational curricula. The cardiac surgery simulation tools in development need validation and incorporation into structured, competency-based training curricula. The ongoing development of surgical simulators and educational curricula will enable a transition from the century-old graded responsibility training program to a competency-based program, where trainees must demonstrate technical competence to progress to the next level of training and gain certification and re-certification--ultimately ensuring better and faster technical skill acquisition as well as improved quality of care and patient safety.