The making of a (new) surgeon: Opportunities for repeated messaging on NOTSS in the Canadian medical system

Meghan Boersma Robertson; Alex Lee; Nada Gawad; Richard Mimeault; Fady Balaa

doi:10.1016/j.sopen.2023.10.009

The making of a (new) surgeon: Opportunities for repeated messaging on NOTSS in the Canadian medical system

Surg Open Sci. 2023 Oct 30:16:162-164. doi: 10.1016/j.sopen.2023.10.009. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Meghan Boersma Robertson¹, Alex Lee², Nada Gawad¹, Richard Mimeault³, Fady Balaa^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
² Univeristy of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³ Canadian Medical Protective Association, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Proficiency in nontechnical skills (NTS) contributes to reduction in critical safety incidents and improvement in patient safety outcomes. Despite evidence demonstrating the importance of NTS in patient safety, there remains limited NTS specific curricula and formal teaching in Canadian surgical programs. We propose a three-stage longitudinal approach to education surrounding NTS using the Nontechnical skills for surgeons (NOTSS) framework.

Keywords: Critical safety incidents; NOTSS; Nontechnical skills; Surgical safety.