John Ortolani, MD, a fourth-year general surgery resident at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, in Roanoke, and his colleagues conducted a study to evaluate their endoscopy curriculum, assess the American Board of Surgery guidelines and track resident performance of screening colonoscopy, according to a General Surgery News report.
Here are seven things to know about the study:
1. The ABS had established a curriculum wherein residents were required to complete 50 colonoscopies and 35 upper endoscopies before graduation.
2. However, GI societies stated that the curriculum did not address cognitive competency and that the required numbers were too low.
3. Dr. Ortolani and his team examined 149 screening colonoscopies performed by residents under the supervision of a surgical endoscopist.
4. The study found that the bowel prep was adequate in more than 90 percent of the cases and the polyp detection rate was 30 percent.
5. The ADR was higher than the benchmark values described by the GI societies and the cecal intubation rate was 96 percent.
6. Thus, a structured curriculum did result in residents performing safe and effective screening colonoscopies.
7. Dr. Ortolani reported the study findings at the 2015 Southeastern Surgical Congress in Chattanooga, Tenn.