Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills

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The Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) is a standardized method for evaluating surgical and technical skills in medical education. It was originally developed for assessing surgical trainees but is now widely used in various medical disciplines.

### Key Components of OSATS OSATS typically consists of the following components:

1. Multiple Stations:

1. Trainees rotate through different stations, each assessing a specific skill.
2. Stations may involve cadaveric models, synthetic models, or virtual simulations.

2. Checklist-Based Assessment:

1. Examiners use structured checklists to evaluate whether key steps of a procedure are completed.
2. This ensures objectivity and standardization.

3. Global Rating Scale (GRS):

1. A validated scale that assesses:
2. Respect for tissue
3. Time and motion efficiency
4. Instrument handling
5. Flow of procedure
6. Knowledge of the procedure
7. Use of assistants

4. Real-Time Feedback:

1. Trainees receive immediate feedback to help improve their skills.
2. Feedback can be qualitative (verbal comments) or quantitative (scored results).

### Advantages of OSATS - Objective and reproducible compared to traditional subjective assessments. - Provides structured feedback for trainees to improve. - Can be tailored to different surgical specialties, including neurocirurgery.

### OSATS in Neurosurgery For neurosurgical training, OSATS can be adapted to assess: - Microsurgical techniques (e.g., vascular anastomosis) - Craniotomy procedures - Endoscopic skills - Spinal instrumentation techniques - Suturing and hemostasis techniques

Would you like help designing an OSATS framework for a specific procedure?

• Resident Name:
• Evaluator Name:
• Procedure:
• Date:
• Level of Training: (PGY-1, PGY-2, PGY-3, etc.)

Each category is rated from 1 to 5, where:

• 1 = Unsafe/Incompetent
• 3 = Competent with Supervision
• 5 = Expert/Independent

• Total Score: sum / 40
• Interpretation:
  • 36-40 → Expert, can perform surgery independently
  • 30-35 → Competent, requires minimal supervision
  • 25-29 → Needs further training, moderate supervision required
  • <25 → Requires significant improvement before independent surgery

Each Yes (✅) counts as 1 point.

• Total Steps Completed Correctly: sum/10
• Competency Interpretation:
  • 9-10 → Excellent, ready for independent performance
  • 7-8 → Competent, but minor refinements needed
  • <7 → Needs additional supervised training

• Strengths:
  1. feedback
• Areas for Improvement:
  1. feedback
• Action Plan for Further Training:
  1. feedback

• ☐ Resident is competent to perform this procedure independently
• ☐ Resident requires further supervised training before performing independently
• ☐ Resident needs remedial training before attempting again

Evaluator Signature: Resident Signature: