Developing an educational video on lung lobectomy for the general surgery resident.

BACKGROUND: The educational resources available to general surgery residents preparing for complex thoracic surgeries vary greatly in content and target audience. We hypothesized that the preparatory resources could be improved in both efficiency of use and targeting. METHODS: A formal needs analysis was performed to determine residents' knowledge gaps and desired format and/or content of an educational tool while preparing for their first lung resections. The results of the needs assessment then guided the creation of a 20-min video tool. The video was evaluated by a focus group of experts for appropriateness to the target audience, ease of use, and relevance. RESULTS: The needs assessment illustrated that residents feel there is a paucity of appropriate resources available to them while preparing for the lung resection procedure; 82% of respondents felt that easy-to-use and concise resources on the lobectomy procedure were either "not at all" or "somewhat" accessible. Residents reported that video was their preferred format for a learning tool overall and identified a broad spectrum of most challenging procedural aspects. These results were used to guide the creation of a 20-min video tool. A focus group validated the efficacy and appropriateness of the video. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted and efficient tools for residents preparing for complex subspecialty procedures are needed and valued. These results clearly encourage further work in the creation of focused educational tools for surgical residents, especially in the format of short video overviews.