Coaching in Surgical Residency: What Do Residents Want?

Purpose: Coaching provides an avenue to review individualized feedback and develop strategies to improve performance, yet structured coaching programs in surgical residencies remain limited. Methods: We conducted a survey-based needs assessment of general surgery residents at a tertiary academic center. The survey evaluated satisfaction with feedback, desired coaching focus areas, and preferred coaching program structure. Descriptive statistics were applied to quantitative items, and content analysis was applied to short-answer responses. Results The response rate was 42.9% (n = 27/63), with junior residents representing 44.4% (n = 12) of the entire cohort. Overall, 70.3% (n = 19) were not satisfied with the feedback received on rotations. Senior residents preferred faculty over peer feedback related to technical skills (46.7% vs. 16.7%; p = 0.033), medical knowledge (40% vs. 8.3%; p = 0.023), and clinical decision-making (53.3% vs. 0.0%; p = 0.003). Leadership (mean 2.30; SD = 0.72) was the domain with the least feedback. Junior residents rated coaching as more impactful for clinical skills than senior residents (4.33 vs. 3.33; p = 0.003). Career planning (4.26; SD = 0.71) was the area where coaching was seen as most beneficial. Most respondents (92.6%, n = 25) supported a peer coaching design between junior and senior residents. Content analysis revealed that respondents viewed peer coaching as beneficial for the coaches through reflection and development as a teacher, as well as potentially a method to indirectly reduce burnout. Conclusions There is a large unmet need for coaching within general surgery residency. Implementation of a peer coaching program may address development gaps within the current educational structure of a general surgery residency program.