The Future of General Surgery Project

Launched in 2012, the Future of General Surgery Project aimed to reassess surgical training in Canada to ensure that all graduates of General Surgery residency programs were optimally prepared to provide surgical care in a variety of practice settings across the country.

The project had two key objectives:

• Facilitate a national surgical summit on the Future of General Surgery.
• Review and make recommendations regarding the optimal configuration of General Surgery training in Canada given the evolving Canadian healthcare landscape.

Recognizing the importance of evidence-based decision-making, a series of four sub-studies and a national survey were launched to achieve these objectives.

The Office of Specialty Education collaborated with a diverse Task Force on the Future of General Surgery to produce a final report in June 2013. The report’s recommendations speak to a redesign of General Surgery residency training to ensure a strong relationship between training and eventual practice. The report also highlights the potential for:

• Training to be focused on projected practice domains
• The importance of competency-based education in general surgery training
• The importance of explicit transition to practice periods for General Surgery residency

Recognizing that data are emerging on various practice profiles for General Surgeons across Canada, the report also speaks to the need to gather further data on surgical practice in a variety of practice settings across the country.

The Specialty Committee in General Surgery continues to support the implementation of the recommendations, in tandem with the Royal College’s Competence by Design

To view a full copy of the report please contact educationstrategy@royalcollege.ca

Ask us about the Future of General Surgery Project
educationstrategy@royalcollege.ca