The Kolb learning cycle in American Board of Surgery In-Training Exam remediation: the Accelerated Clinical Education in Surgery course

Background Surgical training integrates the 4 steps of the Kolb learning cycle. Residents who scored at 30th percentile or less on the American Board of Surgery In-Training Exam (ABSITE) were enrolled in the Accelerated Clinical Education in Surgery (ACES) course that incorporated the Kolb cycle. Methods For concrete experience, Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP-13) was completed according to the syllabus. For reflective consideration, further reading was done on SESAP 13 topics and corresponding ABSITE Keywords. For the hypotheses step; these keywords and topics were reviewed with the mentor. Active testing involved a required weekly on-line quiz based on the syllabus. Results Correct scores on the ABSITE increased for 78.6% of residents in the ACES course, with 28.6% scoring 30th percentile or greater. Senior percent correct scores increased by 7.3% and junior percentile scores by 12.5%. Conclusions Remediation using the Kolb cycle improved ABSITE performance for a majority of participants.