Cost and logistics of implementing a tissue-based American College of Surgeons/Association of Program Directors in Surgery surgical skills curriculum for general surgery residents of all clinical years

Background

The cost and logistics of deploying the American College of Surgeons (ACS)/Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS) National Technical Skills Curriculum across all training years are not known. This information is essential for residency programs choosing to adopt similar curricula.

Methods

A task force evaluated the authors' institution's existing simulation curriculum and enhanced it by implementing the ACS/APDS modules. A 35-module curriculum was administered to 35 general surgery residents across all 5 clinical years. The costs and logistics were noted, and resident satisfaction was assessed.

Results

The annual operational cost was $110,300 ($3,150 per resident). Cost per module, per resident was $940 for the cadaveric module compared with $220 and $240 for dry simulation and animal tissue–based modules, respectively. Resident satisfaction improved from 2.45 to 4.78 on a 5-point, Likert-type scale after implementing the ACS/APDS modules.

Conclusions

The ACS/APDS skills curriculum was implemented successfully across all clinical years. Cadaveric modules were the most expensive. Animal and dry simulation modules were equivalent in cost. The addition of tissue-based modules was associated with high satisfaction.