Is it feasible for surgical trainees to acquire JAG endoscopy accreditation by CCT? National online survey of UK trainees

TL;DR

This study surveyed UK surgical trainees and found significant challenges in acquiring endoscopy accreditation, with many lacking training and support.

Contribution

The study provides national evidence on barriers to endoscopy training for surgical trainees and suggests practical solutions.

Findings

Most trainees faced challenges like the pandemic and on-call duties affecting endoscopy training.

Only a small percentage achieved JAG certification, with many lacking supervisors or allocated training sessions.

Suggested solutions include dedicated training blocks and early guidance on certification requirements.

Abstract

Higher surgical trainees often struggle to attain endoscopy competencies. We aimed to obtain a national picture of higher surgical trainees’ endoscopy experience, highlight barriers to training, and explore potential solutions.

A 40-point electronic questionnaire was designed and disseminated to higher surgical trainees across the UK. Anonymous responses were collected and recorded from 26/10/2020 to 11/06/2021.

A total of 139 higher surgical trainees from 16 out of the 19 regional UK deaneries responded. 75.9% (82/108) had some endoscopy training, and 19.4% (21/108) had no endoscopic training. 27.8% (30/108) had performed over 200 procedures. 77.8% (105/135) were not made aware of endoscopy training requirements by their Training Programme Directors (TPDs). 59.6% (65/109) had no named endoscopy supervisor. Only 49.1% (53/108) felt supported by their endoscopy trainers. Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy (JAG) certification was infrequent, and the highest levels, 14.4% (15/104), were achieved in oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD). Only 55.8% (24/43) of JAG-certified trainees felt competent in that procedure. 50.0% (7/14) of ST8 (final year trainee) respondents were not JAG certified in any procedure. 90.6% (96/106) faced challenges in gaining endoscopy training. The most common obstacles were the COVID-19 pandemic 87.9% (94/107), on-call commitments 80.2% (85/106), lack of allocated endoscopy sessions 80.2% (85/106), insufficient endoscopy training lists 76.4% (81/106), and competition with non-surgical trainees 64.2% (68/106).

Our survey provides detailed evidence of the challenges faced by surgical trainees in gaining endoscopy training. Suggested solutions include allocated endoscopy trainers, dedicated endoscopy-only training blocks, and early guidance about endoscopy training and certification.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00384-025-05058-7.

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