ASE 2026 Workshops

Overview: General Surgery residencies across the U.S. have been experiencing a “Baby Boom” since 2000, with up to 40% of general surgery residents having a child during their residency. Despite this, many surgical program directors remain unsure about policies regarding accommodations for nursing mothers and the availability of financial support for fertility treatments. Furthermore, a majority of surgical residents and medical students express concern that becoming pregnant during residency will be perceived negatively. Addressing these gaps and barriers to family-friendly surgical residencies represents an important step to supporting diversity and inclusion in surgery.

This workshop will utilize an interactive small group discussion format with large group debriefs, to help attendees recognize both challenges and opportunities in fostering a family-friendly culture within surgical training programs. Participants will gain practical guidance on developing effective lactation and family leave policies. This workshop will be especially valuable  for program directors, associate program-directors, vice chairs of education, department chairs, faculty, and trainees interested in improving support for resident parents.

Session Objectives:
1. Explain the rationale for adjusting resident schedules to promote healthy pregnancies
2. Design a lactation policy tailored to their surgical residency program
3. Identify and integrate key considerations in creating an inclusive family leave policy within surgical training

Overview: As a surgical education center that hosts upwards of 20 outreach events annually, the Washington University Institute for Surgical Education (WISE) team will demonstrate how outreach programs can bring value to your own simulation centers. Our surgical education outreach programs provide opportunities that uniquely explore the basics of surgical healthcare and are targeted towards learners interested in pursuing careers in medicine, especially learners from underserved or under-resourced areas. The workshop will build off of our existing model but will be applicable and scalable to participant’s individual institution’s needs and capabilities.

This workshop is designed for surgical education professionals (PDs/APDs, sim center directors, residents, fellows, administrators, technicians, and medical students), chiefly those interested in community outreach initiatives. It aims to familiarize participants with tips and tricks to engage local communities and build sustainable outreach programs within their own simulation centers.

Our goal is to share nearly a decade of WISE’s successes and challenges in outreach, providing participants with a practical framework and adaptable tools to design programs that fit their own communities and institutions.

Session Objectives:
1. Identify their own target audiences and develop their program’s primary outreach goals
2. Create a low risk, high yield environment for participants’ selected outreach audience
3. Demonstrate pathways for identifying community participants
4. Formulate strategies for recruitment of outreach volunteers, along with funding sources and partners

Overview: This interactive workshop introduces surgical educators to the practical use of generative AI—specifically Large Language Models (LLMs) such as Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPTs)—to enhance teaching, simulation, and assessment across the surgical education continuum. Despite the growing availability of AI tools, their use in surgical training remains limited due to technical barriers, lack of faculty preparation, and the need for ethical and pedagogically grounded implementation. Through a collaboration between the ASE DEI Sub-Workgroup and the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Mass General Brigham, participants will learn the foundational concepts of generative AI and how to design, test, and customize educational “bots” aligned with specific learning objectives using the ChatGPT platform.

The session features a brief demonstration of an AI-driven standardized patient to help participants visualize potential applications, followed by a live tutorial and guided small-group work. Participants will define an objective, build a “synthetic patient” or “synthetic educator,” and experiment with their models before engaging in a reflective discussion on barriers and responsible adoption. Grounded in experiential and constructivist learning principles, the workshop emphasizes active engagement, collaborative design, and real-world applicability. Attendees should bring a laptop or tablet and have an active ChatGPT account (free or paid). Facilitators will provide templates and resources to support ongoing development beyond the session.

Session Objectives:
1. Participants will be able to convey the basic principles of generative artificial intelligence and its potential applications within surgical education.
2. Participants will be able to design and customize a Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) using ChatGPT to align with specific educational objectives
3. Participants will be able to evaluate and refine AI-generated educational tools by integrating learner assessment methods and reflecting on best practices for implementation in academic settings.

Overview: This workshop provides surgical educators with practical strategies to teach, assess, and strengthen non-technical skills (NTS)—including communication, teamwork, leadership, decision-making, and situational awareness—which are essential for safe surgical care yet often underemphasized in training. Led by experts in simulation, curriculum design, and performance assessment, the session introduces validated frameworks such as NOTSS, ANTS, and NOTECHS and demonstrates how they can be applied consistently in operative and simulated environments. Participants will also learn how Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice (RCDP) can accelerate behavioral skill development through short, iterative practice intervals and focused feedback.

Building on these foundations, the workshop highlights technology-enhanced methods for objective NTS assessment, including video-based review, operating room video capture, and emerging AI-driven analytics. Participants will explore how these tools can reveal communication patterns, coordination behaviors, and team dynamics to support standardized, data-informed feedback. The session concludes with small-group work in which attendees design an NTS training or assessment plan tailored to their own institution, incorporating behavioral objectives, simulation modalities, RCDP strategies, and opportunities for video or AI-assisted evaluation. Facilitators will provide practical templates and rubrics to support implementation beyond the workshop.

Session Objectives:
1. Identify the core non-technical skills that influence surgical performance and safety.
2. Apply validated frameworks (NOTSS, ANTS, NOTECHS) to structure NTS assessment and feedback.
3. Use Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice (RCDP) to teach and reinforce behavioral performance.
4. Integrate video-based and AI-assisted methods for objective, technology-enhanced assessment.
5. Design and implement institutional strategies to embed NTS evaluation into competency-based curricula.

Overview: This workshop helps clinical educators strengthen their teaching in fast-paced, unpredictable environments by providing a structured framework to answer the question, “Am I an effective educator?” Grounded in adult learning theory, Kolb’s experiential model, and validated teaching assessment tools, the session introduces an EPA-style teaching cycle with three phases: Pre-Teaching (intentional planning), Intra-Teaching (real-time adaptation), and Post-Teaching (reflection and refinement). Participants will learn how to set measurable objectives, tailor teaching strategies to diverse learners, and use tools such as SETQ to guide deliberate instructional planning.

Through hands-on activities, video-based cue recognition, and small-group simulations, participants will practice identifying learner cues, adapting teaching on the spot, and using structured feedback tools such as FACE and Mini-CEX to evaluate effectiveness. The workshop concludes with guided reflection and peer coaching to refine teaching plans using models like Ask-Tell-Ask and milestone-based evaluations. Participants will leave with a comprehensive packet of practical tools—planning frameworks, cue-adaptation worksheets, evaluation instruments, and reflection templates—to support ongoing growth and help them bring intentional, adaptive, evidence-based teaching strategies back to their home institutions.

Session Objectives:
1. Formulate clear, measurable learning objectives for clinical teaching encounters using an intentional pre-teaching framework.
2. Recognize verbal and non-verbal learner cues (e.g., microexpressions, tone, posture) to identify engagement or confusion during teaching.
3. Develop a structured post-teaching reflection using guided templates to assess performance and identify at least two refinements for future teaching.
4. Use validated assessment tools—such as the SETQ, FACE, and Mini-CEX—to evaluate and improve teaching effectiveness.
5. Integrate the EPA-style teaching cycle (Pre-, Intra-, Post-teaching) to create a continuous feedback and growth loop in clinical education.

Overview: The operating room and healthcare at large are significant contributors to the global climate crisis—and are simultaneously burdened by its effects. Efforts to improve health cannot succeed without addressing the social, economic, and ecological forces that underlie the well-being of individuals and communities worldwide. As surgeons, we are uniquely positioned to drive change. This 90-minute interactive workshop will highlight the environmental impact of OR energy consumption, showcase successful sustainability initiatives from across the country, and provide attendees with tools to design and implement similar quality improvement projects at their own institutions. Participants will learn who the key stakeholders are, how to measure progress, and strategies to successfully “pitch” their projects to leadership. To make the session engaging and memorable, we will emulate the format of Shark Tank—but in this case, the “Sharks” will be Dolphins. Working in small groups, attendees will develop and present their sustainability proposals, receiving feedback and resources from faculty mentors. By the end of the session, participants will leave with actionable ideas, practical strategies, and the confidence to lead sustainability efforts in their home institutions.

Session Objectives:
1. Describe the contribution of operating rooms and healthcare systems to the global climate crisis and its impact on patient and community health.
2. Identify key stakeholders, metrics, and strategies necessary to design and implement sustainability-focused quality improvement projects in the OR.
3. Analyze examples of successful sustainability initiatives across healthcare systems to determine best practices and potential applications at their home institutions.
4. Develop and pitch a fundable sustainability project idea in a small-group, Shark Tank-style exercise, incorporating feasibility, impact, and leadership buy-in.
5. Commit to at least one actionable sustainability initiative or resource they can take back to their institution for implementation.

Overview: This workshop addresses a persistent gap in medical education: while feedback is essential for learning in clinical environments, trainees often struggle with how to receive and process negative or poorly delivered feedback. Research shows that surgical residents frequently report inconsistent, unclear, or untimely feedback, and many note that faculty lack the skills to provide it effectively. Negative feedback can trigger stress, embarrassment, or frustration, contributing to a weak feedback-seeking culture. Yet even “bad” feedback can hold valuable insights when trainees are equipped with a framework to interpret it constructively.

The session introduces educators to a practical Feedback Management Framework designed to help learners manage the emotional response to negative feedback, extract meaningful information, and maintain control over their growth. Participants will observe a model “training session,” then practice facilitating their own session using the framework. In small groups, they will explore strategies for integrating this training into local curricula. By the end of the workshop, educators will be prepared to teach trainees how to confidently navigate challenging feedback encounters and use them as opportunities for development.

Session Objectives:
1. Participants will be able to assess learners’ capacity to manage negative feedback from peers and educators
2. Participants will be able to understand the principles–offered in an actionable framework–of teaching learners to manage negative feedback
3. Participants will be able to generate a plan to engage learners in a workshop about receiving feedback, using off-the-shelf curricula

Overview: This interactive workshop supports medical students and early-stage trainees who are new to academic writing and often feel overwhelmed when told to “write a draft” of their research for the first time. Designed to build foundational scholarly skills, the session divides participants into small groups led by experienced facilitators from the GSE-JASE reviewer pool and editorial board. Through five rotating stations, attendees will receive targeted, practical instruction on essential components of medical education research writing—from selecting a study design to preparing a manuscript for peer review.

Each station focuses on a core skill: understanding the peer-review process, choosing appropriate methodologies, reporting results effectively using established guidelines, crafting strong introductions, and developing thoughtful discussion sections. Participants can indicate their preferred stations in advance to tailor the experience to their needs. By the end of the workshop, trainees will leave with clearer expectations, practical strategies, and increased confidence in approaching academic writing and preparing manuscripts for submission.

Session Objectives:
1. Articulate the peer review process and its role in academic publishing to undergraduate trainees.
2. Introduce trainees to appropriate study designs for surgical education research questions.
3. Familiarize trainees with CONSORT and other reporting standards for medical education studies.
4. Show trainees how to write compelling introductions that establish clinical relevance and knowledge gaps.
5. Demonstrate how to create discussion sections that interpret results within the surgical education context.