Surgical Education Research 1

Abstract

There are a number of associations with a strong commitment to surgical education, the principal ones being the Association for Surgical Education (ASE), the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Education, and the Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS). The mission of the Association for Surgical Education is to promote, recognize, and reward excellence, innovation, and scholarship in surgical education. Membership is available to medical students, residents, and faculty [ 1 The Association for Surgical Education. Available online: http://www.surgicaleducation.com. Accessed December 23, 2004. Google Scholar ]. Information concerning this association is available on their Website (http://www.surgicaleducation.com). Among the many resources available through the ASE is the Surgical Educators’ Handbook that has a section specifically devoted to research in education. A second good resource is A Manual for Researchers in Surgical Education that covers topics such as surgical education publications, educational research design, and statistics. The ASE also has a research committee that assists individuals in the pursuit of surgical education. They offer a surgical education research fellowship (SERF) as well. This is an intense fellowship that provides instruction on surgical education techniques and includes workshops, home study, and an assigned research mentor. The fellow is required to develop, conduct, write, and present a structured research project in education.