Research in surgical education: A primer

Abstract

The field of surgical education is young, and opportunities are not on the same scale as they are in fields of fundamental biology, clinical epidemiology, or health care outcomes research; however, the trajectory is steep, and educational work is improving in its sophistication and adherence to methodological principles. There is also an excitement and desire among young academic surgeons to work in an area that has obvious and direct relevance to their mainstream job as surgeons. This chapter explores approaches that can bring such evidence to bear upon educational questions, since education, like any other discipline, cannot be subject to practice by anecdote. Changes must be made on the basis of methodologically rigorous and scientifi-cally sound research. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.