Requirements for Trainee Logbooks

Abstract

All trainees are required to keep a logbook as a record of the procedures they have carried out during their surgical training. However, the current logbook is only a record of work carried out and not of the outcome of the operations. It does not prepare the trainee for either a lifetime practice of surgical audit or for a lifetime of learning from the audit process. The logbook requirements of different training boards vary and consequently, trainees find the keeping of a logbook an inconsistent process with ill-defined learning objectives. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons should define what needs to be collected, how data should be verified and how experience and learning should be reported, and should approve electronic databases that meet logbook standards. The choice of database software and format can then be left to the trainee. Although there are good examples of electronic logbooks being developed, there is, at present, no perfect logbook available. We recommend that all trainees, from the commencement of basic surgical training, should keep a logbook that contains the minimum and expanded datasets in addition to specific trainee data on supervision and learning. In addition to the current reporting format focused on procedural casemix and supervision level, quality/outcome reports and a record of learning are recommended.

Hospital‐wide implementation of an electronic‐workflow solution aiming to make surgical practice improvement easy

“…The other benefit to trainees at this centre is the ability to generate a logbook within the framework stipulated by local training organizations. The ideal logbook should import data from existing hospital systems to reduce duplication of data entry and improve accuracy but this is yet to occur. Significant progress was made with the introduction of RACS initiated web‐based solutions to facilitate automatic tallying of trainee case‐mix and level of supervision.…”

Study protocol: The registrar clinical encounters in training (ReCEnT) study

“…psychiatry [21], medicine [22], and surgery [23]. However, there is no national requirement for completion of a patient log, or indeed any systematic recording of consultation details, in the Australian General Practice Training program.…”

Digital video technology and surgical training

“…Unfortunately, the assessment of surgical competence is a complex task, and even today, the most common tool of assessment of surgical skills is still represented by logbooks [16].…”