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In reply

We thank Drs Chaer and Cintron for their kind comments and for taking the time to write a letter to the editor. Our goal in conducting this educational endeavor was to provide a motivational tool to increase resident self-directed study. The primary outcome we measured was performance on the ABSITE. Because this was a pilot program and the goal was to motivate the residents in a positive way, we did not want to add the potentially punitive element of making weekly test scores part of their permanent record. I should add, however, that I recorded each score on a data sheet and each week privately called residents who scored low and encouraged them to read more.

We agree with Drs Chaer and Cintron that quantifying how much the resident actually read may have been beneficial. However, we wanted the intervention to be self-directed, so we did not indicate . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Christian de Virgilio, MD

Correspondence: Dr de Virgilio, Department of Surgery, Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, 1000 W Carson St, Box 25, Torrance, CA 90509 (cdevirgilio@rei.edu).

RELATED ARTICLE

Improved Performance on the American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination: A Personal or Collective Effort?
Rabih A. Chaer and Jose R. Cintron
Arch Surg. 2004;139(9):1025-1026.
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