Training and Outcomes Round-Up
On our last day at ESCP’s annual congress #ESCP2022, delegates gathered in Liffey Hall 2 to listen to six experts in a Scientific Session on Training & Outcome.
First to speak was Katie Adams (UK) who introduced her presentation on Training and Qualification in Colorectal Surgery: Where do we Stand and What are the Demands? During her talk, Katie emphasised the need for continuous training throughout a colorectal surgeon’s career as “learning requirements for general colorectal surgeons will always shift.”
Katie concluded her talk by addressing the challenges ahead and the potential solutions for training in colorectal surgery, outlined in the summary slides below:
Next we saw Ellen van Eetvelde (Belgium) take to the stage to present a talk on Mentoring, Coaching, Raising Future Colorectal Surgeons: Are Technical Skills Enough? which explored how a surgeon can become a good mentor.
To become a good mentor as well as a good surgeon, Ellen outlined seven key requirements:
- Be a good role model
- Be a skilled teacher
- Dedicates one-on-one time
- Provides constructive feedback
- Be a good listener
- Be an enthusiastic coach
- Be respectful
Third, we heard from Frederic Ris (Switzerland), who kicked off his Simulation & Surgical Training talk, providing an interesting discussion and analysis of using simulation and virtual reality (VR) for training purposes.
Frederic’s take home message was that, while simulation and VR are interesting tools that provide a safe and efficient learning environment, these tools are not yet of high enough standard to be the sole mode of training for colorectal surgeons.
Next on stage was Tania C. Sluckin (Netherlands) for her discussion on O33 - Nationwide Evaluation of MRI Reporting of Lateral Lymph Nodes in Rectal Cancer Patients and Concordance with MRI Re-Review Following Additional Training.
The aim of this study was to evaluate how often lateral lymph nodes (LLNs) are mentioned in MRI reports and to see if this changes with re-review after dedicated training for radiologists. After studying over 1,000 patients, Tania relayed the study’s findings to delegates in the room, which were:
- 49% of primary MRI reports for low, locally advanced rectal cancer cases did not report LLNs
- Non-reporting was highest for non-teaching (66%) and low-volume (65%) hospitals
Lastly, we heard from Jared Torkington (UK) for his presentation on O34 - “Happy to Close?”: The Relationship Between Surgical Experience and Incisional Hernia Rates Following Abdominal Wall Closure in Colorectal Surgery.
Jared started off by setting the scene as to why this study was launched: incisional hernia (IH) is common, bringing significant morbidity to patients as well as high costs to healthcare services. He mentioned that there would be a saving of roughly £4 million per year if incisional hernias could be reduced by 5%.
After comparing the grade of surgeon closing the abdominal wall with IH rates one year after surgery, the study found that there were significantly more Hughes closures performed by consultants. Jared concluded:
- There were higher rates of IH at one year in trainee groups irrespective of closure method
- Patients who had an abdominal wall closure performed by a trainee were 88% more likely to have formed IH after one year
All talks within this scientific session attracted praise and inspired interesting discussion from the audience, with one member commenting on the thought-prokoving results from the final two presentations.
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