Enhanced Surgical Skills

Welcome to the Enhanced Surgical Skills Residency Program at the University of Alberta.

Welcome to Our Program

The Enhanced Surgical Skills (ESS) training program at the University of Alberta is competency-based, equipping learners with the surgical skills required to address the basic surgical needs of rural and remote communities. The strongest impetus for this training is the need to support the sustainability of rural obstetrical programs across our province. In addition to surgical obstetrics, the trainee will achieve competency in a range of procedures taught by general surgeons, obstetricians, urologists and gastroenterologists. The curriculum is designed to equip graduates with a spectrum of skills that will enable them to lead sustainable rural surgical programs and the teams that make these programs function.

The ESS Program is an intensive 12-month residency beginning with 2 blocks of trauma care at a tertiary trauma centre. This is followed by 10 blocks of training distributed between several suburban hospitals with supportive Royal College preceptors. Elective time will be available during which trainees are encouraged to spend a block of time in the community in which they intend to practice following graduation. Throughout the training program the resident will have access to high fidelity simulation with opportunity to tailor the experiences to individual learning needs.

This program would not be possible without the dedicated support of Royal College members who participate in the training, and support from the leaders in both the academic and operational realms of healthcare in our province. In addition, we are grateful for the persistence of the currently practicing ESS physicians across the province who are examples of what it means to provide access to required care. We believe that binding rural surgical and obstetrical programs in supportive professional networks, investing in relationships, results in the best patient care and we are confident that this training program will position graduates to be active participants in the community of professionals that work daily to address the needs of patients in a timely and safe manner.

Training follows the recommendations of the Red Book, published by Canadian College of Family Physicians.

Dr. Mark Prins

Program Director

Our Program

The successful completion of the ESS program at the UofA is recognized by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) by the granting of a Certificate of Added Competency (CAC). The Priority Topics and Key Features (ref) of Enhanced Surgical Skills, as supported by the CFPC, can be mapped to a set of core competencies ratified by a provincial working group.

This process ensures that graduates will be supported by the service provider upon entering the workplace. ESS graduates will have acquired both technical skills and the cognitive knowledge related to the provision of basic surgical services to a defined population. Importantly, the ESS physician will have a well-developed understanding of which patients require referral to tertiary surgical care. Good surgical judgment and insight into appropriate scope of practice is the number one objective.

The ESS program aims to develop core competencies in the following areas:

• Interprofessional Communication
• Operative Obstetrics, including elective and emergent cesarean section
• Basic Gynecological procedures
• Endoscopy, including colonoscopy
• Basic General Surgery
• Wound Care
• Trauma response and patient stabilization

Program Highlights

Residents participate in high fidelity simulation along-side surgical residents in general surgery and obstetrics and gynecology.

Our ESS residents will work through the same Fundamental Skills of Laparoscopic surgery as the specialty residents.

Supportive learning environment with ESS residents being assigned a surgical mentor at the onset of training. Professional relationships with post-graduate clinical coaches will also be initiated during training.

Majority of training takes place in a reasonable proximity to each other.

Training program has been developed with input from the provincial service provider, ensuring a seamless transition to postgraduate clinical practice supported by ongoing CME and clinical coaching.

Broad skill set will enable graduates to be leaders in the sustainability of rural surgical service delivery. Emphasis on interprofessional relationship development places this program as an international leader in the training of high quality surgical task sharing between specialist and non-specialist surgical providers.