Teaching the Surgical Craft: Surgery Residents Perception of the Operating Theater Educational Environment in a Tertiary Institution in Nigeria

Background: The transformation of a surgical trainee into a surgeonis strongly influenced by the quality of teaching in the operatingtheater. This study investigates the perceptions of residents aboutthe educational environment of the operating theater and identifiesvariables that may improve the operating theater education of ourtrainees. Materials and Methods: Residents in the department of surgery anonymously evaluated teaching in the operating room using the operating theater education environment measure. The residents evaluated 33 variables that might have an impact on their surgical skills within the operating theater. The variables were grouped into four subscales; teaching and training, learning opportunities, operating theater atmosphere and workload/supervision/support. Differences between male and female residents and junior and senior registrars were assessedusing Mann.Whitney test. Statistical analysis was completed with the statistics package for the social sciences version 17. Results: A total of 33 residents were participated in this study. Twenty nine (88%) males and 4 (12%) females. 30 (90%) were junior registrars. The mean total score was 67.5%. Operating theater atmosphere subscale had the highest score of 79.2% while workload/supervision/support subscale had the least score of 48.3%. There were significant differences between male and female residentfs perception of workload/supervision/supportP < 0.05; however, there was no significant differences in junior registrar versus senior registrarfs perception of the education environment in all the subscales P > 0.05. Conclusion: This study has shown a satisfactory teaching environment based on the existing local realities of means, resources and tools andhighlighted the need for improvement in workload/supervision/support in our institution. An acceptable learning environment in the operating theatre will produce surgeons that are technically competent to bridge the gap in the enormous unmet need for surgical care in Nigeria.Keywords: Teaching, operating theater, residents, perception, surgical craf