Feasibility of Smartphone Application in Plastic Surgery Operative Assessments

Background: The evaluation model of operative competence is based on aggregate tabulations of procedures and end-of-rotation feedback from faculty members. Procedural tabulations do not detail the level of resident involvement in the case, and end of rotation feedback is infrequent and inaccurate due to the necessity of long-term recall. Smart phone-based evaluation systems provide residents with immediate and permanent feedback for surgical encounters. In this study, we examine the feasibility of smart phone-based evaluations in plastic surgery residency. Methods: This was a 6-month prospective, single institution pilot study at three leaching hospitals, assessing all PGY levels. We utilized our department mobile application (Wayne State University Surgery Department application), which includes intraoperative evaluations based on the Zwisch scale. Prestudy and poststudy surveys were conducted. An unstructured interview of the Clinical Competency Committee provided feedback for the new evaluation tool against the previous evaluation forms. Results: Eleven physicians participated in the study, resulting in 126 encounters and 184 procedures. A 10-question prestudy survey was given with answers ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The Clinical Competency Committee faculty ranked the prestudy resident assessment tool 2.82 of 5, whereas the poststudy survey scored 4.64 of 5. Conclusions: Residents and faculty both rated the smartphone application as a useful tool for evaluating residents. The success of the application proves its feasibility within plastic surgery residency and may play an important role in rating resident operative competency in the future.