Surgical Education and Simulation Research Fellowship

Overview

The Surgical Education and Simulation Research Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital is dedicated to training fellows to be academic surgical leaders in the field of surgical education, research and simulation.

Also, this program consists of close relationships with the Codman Center for Clinical Effectiveness, the Procedural Learning and Safety Collaborative and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These relationships, along with others in Boston and across the country, have helped fellows pursue research projects in a variety of areas that bridge education, outcomes and technology.

This program can be one to two years in length depending on the fellow’s career aspirations and available financial resources.

As part of the Consortium of American College of Surgeons (ACS) Accredited Institutes, this fellowship program consists of high-quality formal didactic and hands-on training with regular feedback and mentorship.

Goals of the Program

Graduates of the Surgical Education Research and Simulation Fellowship will be able to:

• Conceive, develop and run simulation-based training and evaluation modules
• Create, administer and evaluate new simulation programs/centers
• Critically appraise and/or conduct simulation-based medical education research
• Describe the theoretical and scientific foundations of simulation-based medical/surgical education

Areas of Research

Fellows will be able to learn about various research topics, including:

• Adult learning theories
• Assessment of education outcomes
• Emotional intelligence development
• Enhancing medical student exposure to surgery
• Linking resident education to patient outcomes/satisfaction
• Machine-learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based assessment
• Resident burnout prevention
• Resident clinical prioritization skills
• Simulation-based skills training
• Video-based education and coaching

Curriculum

The Surgical Education and Simulation Research Fellowship at Mass General provides the fellow with didactic and mentored training that encompasses:

• Administration and leadership
• Curriculum design and evaluation
• Educational theory
• Faculty development
• Learner and program evaluation
• Technology support and simulation

Our existing simulation-based education fellowship curriculum is particularly robust and culminates in a teaching and learning certificate with a concentration in health care simulation which is offered by our affiliated Mass General Institute of Health Professions (IHP).

All fellows will complete the certificate program, which includes coursework at the Center for Medical Simulation and the Program for Educators in the Health Professions at the Harvard-Macy Institute. Depending on funding levels, there is also the possibility that fellows will be able to obtain a masters in health professions education through the IHP.

Mentored training in the above cognitive elements as well as human/fiscal resource management and research design/methodology will be delivered through bi-weekly meetings with the fellowship research group and monthly meetings of institution-wide surgical education research

The fellow will have an opportunity to work very closely with Roy Phitayakorn, MD, Denise Gee, MD, and Emil Petrusa, PhD, to design and complete their own individual research project that emphasizes at least one of the cognitive elements mentioned above. The simulation specialists will also mentor the fellow so that the fellow is comfortable managing the technical elements of a successful simulation session including role playing/improvisation and technical troubleshooting.

Coursework

Fellows are expected to publish at least two manuscripts during the program.

The didactic training includes coursework through the Center for Medical Simulation Instructors Course and the Harvard Macy Institute in the following courses:

• A Systems Approach to Assessment
• Leading Innovations in Health Care and Education
• Program for Educators in the Health Professions

Specific information about each of these courses can be provided by request.