1.3 The AO Foundation’s surgeon education study

The AO Foundation [15] is a medically guided nonprofi t organization led by an international group of surgeons specialized in the treatment of trauma and disorders of the musculoskeletal system. It offers affi liated surgeons and operating room personnel (ORP) global networking opportunities and knowledge services. It provides educational courses globally and these events attract over 30,000 surgeons and nurses from 57 different countries each year.

The primary study questions were:

1. Do trauma surgeons undergo clearly defi ned stages in their careers? If so, what are those stages? 2. Why do surgeons access education? What is their motivation to learn? 3. Do surgeons change the reasons why they look for education depending on their career level? 4. Do surgeons differ in their choice of educational channel depending on their career stage? 5. Do current educational offerings meet those educational needs and if not where are the gaps and how could they be fi lled?

EDUCATION

Secondary study questions were:

1. How has surgical training changed over the years? 2. Does the preference of educational channel depend on age as well as stage of career? 3. How are the various educational channels (books, journals, mentoring interpersonal relations, courses, meetings, Internet) currently used and what are the trends? 4. What is the relationship between trauma and orthopedics both in training and with regard to career pathway?

To investigate these questions a study was carried out which is presented in this book. The core of the study consisted of a series of in-depth interviews with 100 international surgeons. It was a qualitative study to give practicing surgeons an opportunity to voice how education had affected them at various stages of their careers.

A quantitative study was not possible or desirable for two reasons. Firstly, very little is known about this subject. Initial investigation of any area of scientifi c interest should fi rst defi ne what needs to be examined, and to do this open-ended questions are required. Secondly, a quantitative study would not allow surgeons to tell their own individual stories, refl ecting the richness and depth of a surgeons’ practicing life.

It may be that things were missed or not asked. However, the stories taken together give us a better idea about how to structure more effective and responsive educational systems.

Vignettes will be found throughout this monograph to illustrate the surgeon’s stories. It is hoped that some of these vignettes will resonate with those readers who are practicing surgeons themselves and illustrate the huge variability of practice environments and the surgeon’s response to them.