Surgical Education Research
The Center for Surgical Training and Research (CSTAR) is advancing the scholarship of evidence-based surgical education.
The Center for Surgical Training and Research (CSTAR) is a community of educational scholars conducting research in teaching, learning, assessment, curriculum (including simulation), educational policy and the learning environment. In addition, ours is one of few centers in the country working at the intersection of surgical education and health services research, with a particular focus on influencing international medical education policy. Based in a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach, we are translating our research into system-wide changes.
We serve and welcome all segments of the medical and surgical community to engage in forward thinking research, teaching, and assessment. We strive to provide fair and equal opportunity, treatment and access to surgical research sciences while attempting to eliminate possible barriers that have hindered participation by some groups.
We take a highly multidisciplinary approach, drawing on work in many areas, including health services research, simulation, education, cognitive psychology, anthropology, econometrics, data science and engineering.
We explore research in a wide variety of training-related fields, including:
- Assessment of teaching and learning in the operating room
- Connecting assessment outcomes with patient outcomes
- Using simulation to accelerate learning
- Culture and leadership development
- Demonstration of trust and entrustable behaviors
- Learning curves for core procedures
- Implementation of a precision educational system
A seminar series that is didactic and discussion based to introduce foundational topics in surgical education research. While the focus is on fostering and enhancing the local community of surgical education scholars, all sessions are open to individuals interested in surgical education research.
Dr. Gurjit Sandhu has led the development of the OpTrust Educational Bundle for professional development among surgeons with collaborators from institutions across the country. This faculty and resident professional development focuses on entrustment education, goal-oriented personality traits, and the validated OpTrust Measurement System as a means to objectively and accurately assess intraoperative entrustment and entrustability.
The OpTrust Educational Bundle successfully promotes behaviors associated with entrustment during intraoperative faculty-resident interactions, and has the potential to be adopted across other procedural-based specialties to promote graduated autonomy during supervised training.
During Work in Progress meetings, members present current work they have produced in connection to their research, such as an abstract, grant specific aims, presentation, poster, etc. CSTAR members then provide insight and feedback on how to enhance the work.
CSTAR partners with the Society for Improving Medical Professional Learning (https://simpl.org/), led by Dr. Brian George. SIMPL is an app that is used around the world by surgical faculty to assess and provide feedback to surgical trainees.
CSTAR co-hosts a monthly webinar with the Association for Surgical Education and the Society for Improving Medical Professional Learning. The series is open to anyone, national and internationally, who is interested in surgical education research. It includes practical learning opportunities led by experts in the field. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to successfully carry out surgical education research and the principles on which the field is built.
The CSTAR Fellowship is a two-year surgical education research fellowship.
Fellows will gain broad experience in the techniques, challenges, and opportunities in surgical education research. The fellowship aims to prepare trainees to become independent investigators through working on high-impact research projects with CSTAR faculty. (Currently only offered internally to the Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School.)
At CSTAR, we bring together a wide audience with a range of expertise, including students, residents, trainees, staff, and faculty members from across the University of Michigan and around the country, to better investigate and expand the field of surgical education research. Our community offers opportunities for members to collaborate and discuss current projects in this space, while providing connections and resources to further enrich research pursuits. While CSTAR is primarily based in the Department of Surgery, anyone at the University of Michigan is welcome to become a member.
There are many ways to engage with CSTAR as a faculty member, resident or medical student. Please reach out to Alyssa Pradarelli, CSTAR Program Manager, with any questions about becoming a member or regarding opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and consultation. For more information or to join the CSTAR mailing list, please email [email protected].
Program Associate
Wellness Office
Professor of Learning Health Sciences
Associate Professor of Learning Health Sciences
Associate Professor of Surgery
Program Associate and Service Chief, Surgery
