In accordance with the Royal College’s Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) program, Competency by Design (CBD), Surgical Foundations (SF) developed and tested a novel boot camp in July of 2016. The boot camp was, by all accounts, highly successful. In fact, the McMaster Department of Surgery SF Boot Camp has been an annual event given its continued success and uptake. Boot camp is held for incoming cohorts during the first week of July of PGY-1 and includes virtual and in-person lectures, simulated scenario sessions with mock patients and hands-on technical skills sessions. Feedback from all previous sessions is used to modify and improve the second boot camp and it will continue to evolve as needs change.

Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) & Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS)

All SF residents are required to complete the ACLS and ATLS courses. These courses are completed following Boot Camp.

Feedback:
At the end of each week of boot camp, residents are given the opportunity to provide feedback online and anonymously to the program coordinator. Additional feedback is gathered by the SF Resident Representative Group, PGY-1 mid-year survey (December) and the PGY-1 and PGY-2 annual survey that takes place in June of each academic year.