Dr. Martin Levy is the Director, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Orthopaedic Residency Program at the prestigious Montefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Levy knows a thing or two about training surgeons and students vie for places to learn from him. He’s a visionary at the forefront of surgeon training who’s leading the way to modernize the field.
Along Came Penny
In his other world, Marty is a competitive frisbee dog participant and instructor. He learned from his dog Penny, that the best way to motivate and create an effective learning environment is to avoid reprimands (even at their most mild and unintentional), to create opportunities for success at every step of the learning process and most of all, to have fun and cultivate a mutually trusting relationship. He began to explore the world of postive reinforcement-based dog training and discovered an entire community dedicated to this excting and efficient way of training.
A New Way of Teaching Surgeons
Dr. Levy began to wonder if Marty was on to something and started looking into how he could apply the principles of force-free, errorless teaching with his orthopedic residents. Along with Theresa McKeon and Karen Pryor of TAGteach International and his colleagues at the Monterfiore Hospital, Dr. Levy developed an innovative program for training orthopedic surgeons. This differed from the traditional apprentice and observation based model where residents learned techniques by watching and listening to more experienced surgeons. This new approach is based on learning the skills to use the surgical tools to fluency and only then learning to apply these skills to specific techniques. It’s also based on breaking skills down to component parts, teaching these specifically, and giving immediate postive feedback when the learner gets it right. Dr. Levy teaches each skill component in an organized and preplanned way and doesn’t rely on passive observation and general instructions that vary from trainer to trainer.
Along with increased student confidence and better performance, this new method has a major benefit in terms of passing on the knowledge. Students who learn skills to mastery based on specific measurement goals are able to teach their peers with the same degree of precision with which they were taught.
Media Attention
This work with orthopedic surgeon training has brought TAGteach the most media attention of any of our endeavors so far. It was featured in the Scientific American Blog and also in a National Public Radio broadcast. Dr. Levy and his team have authored scientific papers and presented at orthopedic surgeon conferences. The growing data base and publicity has engendered interest from other physician trainers and so a new era is beginning where physicians will be trained efficiently in a collaborative environment that focuses on building success upon success.
Here’s a list of references for you to check out to learn more:
Levy, I.M., Fornari, E.D., Schulz, J.F., Pryor, K.W., McKeon, T.R. and Kuhn, L.K. (2016) A Curriculum for Teaching the Foundation Tool Skills to First-Year Orthopaedic Surgery Residents. Montefiore Journal of Musculoskeletal Medicine and Surgery. 1:4-19. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/jmrp/mjmms/2016/00000001/00000001/art00002
Levy. I.M., Pryor, K.W. and McKeon, T.R. (2015) Is Teaching Simple Surgical Skills Using an Operant Learning Program More Effective Than Teaching by Demonstration? Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 474:945:955 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26369658
Scientific American: Positive Reinforcement Helps Surgeons Learn
NPR: Clicker Training for Dogs is Adapted to Help Surgeons Learn Quickly
NPR: When Things Click: The Power of Judgement-Free Learning
Learn More with Dr. Levy
Learn all about the evolution of Dr. Levy’s training in this 2-part webinar series. These can each stand alone, but you’ll get more out of it if you watch them in order. You’ll get a special price reduction offer on Part 1 when you purchase Part 2. If the date for Part 2 is in the past, the recording will be available at the same link.
Part 1: TAGteach and the Training of a Surgeon
Part 2: TAGteach, Precision Teaching, Rules for Tools: Surgeon Peer Training in Action
