Development of a Surgical Evidence Blog at Morbidity and Mortality Conferences: Integrating Clinical Librarians to Enhance Resident Education

Abstract

Surgical morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference is a primary educational endeavor for trainees and faculty alike. Case presentations are enhanced by inclusion of clinical evidence; however, trainees are frequently limited in their ability to collect and share this type of material. A surgical evidence web log ("blog") was created in partnership between the Clinical Librarian Service and the Department of Surgery. A clinical librarian attended weekly departmental M&M conferences and reviewed evidence in collaboration with a surgical resident. For each case presented, the clinical librarian created an evidence-based blog post based on specific learning topics encountered in the routine discussion of the M&M conference. The goal of this surgeon-librarian partnership was to enhance M&M's educational value by reinforcing learning topics, serving as a repository of case-based evidence, and involving trainees in evidence-based surgical practice. Blog posts included summaries of available evidence, critical reviews of seminal studies, and reviews of evidence-based guidelines framed in the context of the case. New blog posts were promoted via direct links in an existing weekly newsletter sent to all trainees and faculty in the department. Within the first year, surgical residents reported increased interaction with the literature, and 100% reported gaining knowledge that they would otherwise not receive through their standard readings, with 73% of residents using this to influence clinical practice and 87% applying knowledge in test preparation. This surgeon-librarian partnership enforces interdisciplinary collaboration through existing resources, and is highly generalizable to both surgical and medical training programs. In this study, the development of a surgical evidence blog represents an effective resource for promoting evidence-based practices within a case-based learning curriculum. This intervention is the first report in the literature to integrate the expertise and resources of a Clinical Librarian Service with an evidence-based resident educational curriculum in a surgical residency program.