August 2010 ■ Journal of Dental Education 869 Educational Methodologies Assessment of Surgical Competence in

Abstract: This cross-sectional study was designed to document the methods utilized by North American graduate periodontics programs in assessing their residents ’ surgical skills. A survey of clinical skills assessment was mailed to directors of all fifty-eight graduate periodontics programs in Canada and the United States. Thirty-four programs (59 percent) responded. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. The results demonstrate that the most common practice for providing feedback and documenting residents ’ surgical skills in the programs surveyed was daily one-on-one verbal feedback given by an instruc-tor. The next two most commonly reported methods were a standard checklist developed at program level and a combination of a checklist and verbal comments. The majority of the programs reported that the instructors met collectively once per term to evalu-ate the residents ’ progress. The results suggest that graduate periodontics programs provide their residents frequent opportunities for daily practice with verbal feedback from instructors. However, assessment strategies identified in other health professions as beneficial in fostering the integration of clinical skills practices are not employed. Dr. Ghiabi, a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, is Assistant Professor, Department of Dental Clinical Sci