13 4
these skills and a community of learning that celebrates them can change an educa-
tional culture and stimulate the expanding influence to the benefit of many that is the
goal of all educational endeavor.
Conclusion
Teaching residents to teach junior residents and medical students is fundamental
to the mission of surgical education. As Deborah Ball, Dean of the School of
Education at the University of Michigan, said, “Good teachers aren’t born,
they’re trained” [ 51 ]. Just as one trains a resident to perform complex surgical
skills, one must also coach and encourage residents to act as teachers to their
junior colleagues. There are many challenges facing the current surgical training
paradigm including resident preparedness for independent practice. Senior resi-
dents should keep the teaching mindset as a top priority, for as the Roman phi-
losopher Seneca said, “While we teach, we learn.” We hope that applying the
theories of modern memory science and educational principles reviewed will
help the interested reader enhance their own personal surgical competency and
skill and their impact on the progression of all around them.References
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