Innovation in Pediatric Surgical Education for General Surgery Residents: A Mobile Web Resource

Background/ObjectivesGeneral surgery residents lack a standardized educational experience in pediatric surgery. We hypothesized that the development of a mobile educational interface would provide general surgery residents broader access to pediatric surgical education materials.MethodsWe created an educational mobile website for general surgery residents rotating on pediatric surgery, which included a curriculum, multimedia resources, the Operative Performance Rating Scale (OPRS), and Twitter functionality. Residents were instructed to consult the curriculum. Residents and faculty posted media using the Twitter hashtag, #UCLAPedSurg, and following each surgical procedure reviewed performance via the OPRS. Site visits, Twitter posts, and OPRS submissions were quantified from September 2013 to July 2014.ResultsThe pediatric surgery mobile website received 257 hits; 108 to the homepage, 107 to multimedia, 28 to the syllabus, and 19 to the OPRS. All eligible residents accessed the content. The Twitter hashtag, #UCLAPedSurg, was assigned to 20 posts; the overall audience reach was 85 individuals. Participants in the mobile OPRS included 11 general surgery residents and 4 pediatric surgery faculty.ConclusionPediatric surgical education resources and operative performance evaluations are effectively administered to general surgery residents via a structured mobile platform.