How Does the Adult Surgeon Learn?

Both the breadth of knowledge and range of technical skills that residents are now expected to master prior to graduation have grown exponentially. A unique challenge that sets surgical education apart from medical education is that surgery as a specialty requires not only the mastery of complex physiology, anatomy, and disease processes but also the ability to interpret and apply that knowledge in the operating room. To be effective educators, it is imperative to understand the theoretic foundation of how adults learn.