Expeditionary OpeN SURGERy for ReSIDENT (EXPOSR)

ABOUT EXPOSR

The Expeditionary Open Surgery for Residents (EXPOSR) short course was developed for military surgical residents to prepare them for potential deployments to expeditionary contexts. In these limited resource environments, surgeons will typically need to be able to perform open procedures for both emergency procedures and combat casualty care. At present, surgical residents devote more of their training hours to the development of minimally invasive surgical techniques, with limited opportunities to engage with open procedures in general. This training gap is amplified in the surgical contexts of emergencies, trauma, and combat casualty care.

The course is for all levels of residents except PGY4s who are assigned to other rotations. The course content includes four separate modules, each of which includes pre-study materials for on-demand learning, followed by a short pre-lab quiz, cadaver-supported procedural lab with real time performance assessment, and post-lab quiz. Sequencing is as follows: 

1) Self-study (resources linked below) and optional didactic presentation. 
2) Pre-lab quiz. 
3) Residents from all levels participate in a cadaver-based lab facilitated by military surgical specialists with expertise in the module content. All residents participate the completing the procedure at the appropriate level of their training. For example:

• Intern assist as needed, respond to questions, ask questions
• PGY2 / PGY 3 complete the procedure as the primary surgeon
• PGY 5 supervise the procedure, guide and facilitate as needed
• Faculty facilitate and support all surgical trainees at the table and complete assessments

4) Performance assessment outcomes are provided to residents to identify areas where their performance met the standard (independent & accurate completion) and where gaps areas need to be closed. 
5) Complete the post-lab quiz.

The procedures for each module are indicated below along with module resources for self-study. 

Google drive for USU NCRP residents: 

GME EXPOSR MODULES 1-4

Pre-OPCE Activity Reading: 

What incisions do I make?