Recognizing impact in surgical education research

Practical guide to common flaws with surgical education research
D Stefanidis, L Torbeck, AH Kaji
JAMA Surg. 2024;159(3):339–340. DOI:10.1001/jamasurg.2023.6675

Vice Chairs of Education in Departments of Surgery: Responsibilities, Value, and Future Directions
Elizabeth M. Huffman Cooper, Nicholas E. Anton, Douglas S. Smink, Brigitte K. Smith, Daniel J. Scott, Amalia L. Cochran, Kyla Terhune, Mohsen Shabahang, Dimitrios Stefanidis
Journal of Surgical Education 2026;83(4):103864. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2025.103864

Artificial intelligence methods and artificial intelligence-enabled metrics for surgical education: a multidisciplinary consensus
Vedula, S Swaroop MBBS, MPH, PhD; Ghazi, Ahmed MD, FEBU, MHPE; Collins, Justin W MBChB, MD, FRCS; Pugh, Carla MD, PhD, FACS; Stefanidis, Dimitrios MD, PhD, FACS, FASMBS; Meireles, Ozanan MD; Hung, Andrew J MD; Schwaitzberg, Steven MD, FACS; Levy, Jeffrey S MD, FACOG; Sachdeva, Ajit K MD, FACS, FRCSC, FSACME, MAMSE;  and the Collaborative for Advanced Assessment of Robotic Surgical Skills
Journal of the American College of Surgeons 234(6):p 1181-1192, June 2022. DOI: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000000190 

Response to the Comment on “Proving the Effectiveness of the Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery (FRS) Skills Curriculum: A Single-blinded, Multispecialty, Multi-institutional Randomized Control Trial: Not Only Surgeon's Manual Skills...”
Satava, Richard M. MD; Stefanidis, Dimitrios MD, PhD; Levy, Jeffrey S. MD; Smith, Roger PhD; Martin, John R. MD; Monfared, Sara MD; Timsina, Lava R. PhD; Darzi, Ara Wardkes MD; Moglia, Andrea PhD; Brand, Timothy C. MD; Dorin, Ryan P. MD; Dumon, Kristoffel R. MD; Francone, Todd D. MD; Georgiou, Evangelos MD, PhD; Goh, Alvin C. MD; Marcet, Jorge E. MD; Martino, Martin A. MD; Sudan, Ranjan MD; Vale, Justin MBBS; Gallagher, Anthony G. PhD
Annals of Surgery 274(6):p e847-e848, December 2021. DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004658

Society for simulation in healthcare guidelines for simulation training
Stefanidis, Dimitrios MD, PhD, FSSH, MAMSE; Cook, David MD, MHPE; Kalantar-Motamedi, Seyed-Mohammad MD, MPH; Muret-Wagstaff, Sharon PhD, MPA; Calhoun, Aaron W. MD; Lauridsen, Kasper G. MD, PhD; Paige, John T. MD; Lockey, Andrew PhD; Donoghue, Aaron MD, MSCE; Hall, Andrew K. MD, MMEd; Patocka, Catherine MDCM, MHPE; Palaganas, Janice PhD, RN; Gross, Isabel T. MD/PhD, MPH; Kessler, David MD; Vermylen, Julia MD, MPH; Lin, Yiqun MD, PhD; Aebersold, Michelle PhD; Chang, Todd P. MD; Duff, Jonathan MD, MHSE; Kolbe, Michaela PD Dr. rer. nat.; Rutherford-Hemming, Tonya EdD, RN; Decker, Sharon PhD, RN; Collings, Amelia MD; Toseef Ansari, Mohammed MD, MMedSc, MPhil.
Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare 19(1S):p S4-S22, January 2024. DOI: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000776 

Mental skills training limits the decay in operative technical skill under stressful conditions: results of a multisite, randomized controlled study
NE Anton, T Mizota, JA Whiteside, EM Myers, EA Bean, D Stefanidis
Surgery 165 (6), 1059-1064

The purpose of this multi-year federal award is to study the objective factors related to surgeons’ non-technical skills in the clinical environment. Our team has rigorously developed simulated intraoperative scenarios to evaluate surgeons’ non-technical skills using objective, multi-modal sensors (i.e., physiological and behavioral), and are evaluating our multi-modal sensor system’s ability to distinguish exemplary and suboptimal non-technical skills in a randomized controlled trial.

Title: Determining the Effectiveness of Tailoring Robotic Surgery Skills Training to Learner Cognitive Load on Skill Acquisition: A Randomized Control Trial.

Proficiency-based training is the current gold standard in surgical simulation, yet it overlooks the role of cognitive load in learning and performance. This study aims to test a novel approach to skills training in robotic surgery by exploring whether practicing expert-derived cognitive load levels can lead to better skill acquisition than standard proficiency-based training.

Title: Fostering Skill Building for Surgeons

The goal of this multi-year grant enables our team to pursue significant innovations in surgical education to study best practices for surgeon technical and non-technical skills performance. Each proposed project advances surgical education methods by assessing and providing interventions on physiological and cognitive factors that impact surgical skill acquisition and performance. Example projects included in this grant include utilizing brain-computer interface to enhance mental imagery use and surgical skill acquisition, developing an artificial intelligence platform for surgical performance assessment and pattern recognition, and enhancing surgical resident recruitment and training through neuropsychological assessment, among others. Over the past several years, the funding our team has received through this mechanism has led to more than 30 presentations at national/international conferences, the publication of more than 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts in medical journals, and more than 10 grants at the local, surgical society, industry, and federal levels.

Funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, the INPACT grant enhances medical student suturing training in Phase 1 and 2 courses while promoting health sciences career pathways among high school and college students in medically underserved Indiana communities.

Through the IU Health Values Grant, our surgical education research team will develop and pilot a competency-based education framework across three subspecialties to evaluate whether it improves resident performance and patient outcomes compared to traditional training models.
Indiana University Health Values Fund Grant Pilot & Feasibility Program – Education

Title: Determining the Effectiveness of Point of Care Ultrasound Training on Surgery Residents’ Diagnostic Ability

The purpose of this grant is to enhance surgical resident point of care ultrasound (POCUS) performance to identify normal anatomy and pathology in areas where ultrasound is impactful for the surgical patient. Through this grant, our team is: 1) developing ultrasoundable simulation-based models for deliberate practice of POCUS skills, 2) developing a proficiency-based POCUS skills curriculum and objective metrics of performance, and 3) will evaluate the effectiveness of this training curriculum through the use of eye-tracking metrics to evaluate gaze and pupillometry metrics. These metrics will enable our team to demonstrate the benefit of simulation-based ultrasound training on POCUS performance and transfer of skill to the clinical environment.

Minimally Invasive Surgery for the Aspiring Surgeon (MISAS): Accelerating Surgical Skill Acquisition Through Simulation-based Training in Medical School

This study explores whether a novel, proficiency-based simulation curriculum can better prepare fourth-year medical students for the FLS, FES manual skills, and emerging FRS assessments as they transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education.