Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery Scores and Career Choices in Obgyn Residents

Study Objective To examine Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery® (FLS) scores and career choices in obstetrics and gynecology residents. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Academic obstetrics and gynecology residency program. Patients or Participants Residents in obstetrics and gynecology who took the FLS exam prior to graduation. Interventions N/A Measurements and Main Results Between 2010 – 2020, 94 residents completed the FLS examination, 77.7% in their third year and 22.3% in their fourth year. 92 (97.9%) passed the skills examination and 88 (96.3%) passed the written examination on their first attempt. 75% (6/8) of failures occurred during the first 2 years the test was administered at the program. Mean skills scores did not differ between residents matching into a gynecologic surgery fellowship (gynecologic oncology, urogynecology, minimally invasive gynecologic surgery) and those not matching into a surgical fellowship (543.85 vs 514.13; p=0.095). Median written scores also did not differ between these groups (580 vs 560; p=0.121). Residents who matched into a surgical fellowship were not more likely to pass the written or skills exam compared to those not pursuing these careers. Third year residents scored higher than fourth year residents on the written exam (p=0.002) however there were no significant differences in manual skills scores between the two years (p = 0.276). Resident year did not impact test failure for either the written or skills portion of the FLS exam. Conclusion Obstetrics and gynecology residents matching into a gynecologic surgery fellowship did not perform better than their peers on the written or skills portion of the FLS exam.