Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Today, general surgery residents (GSR) face unorthodox challenges due to variation in caseloads and the implementation of duty hour restrictions. It has been stated that the most concerning change in the education of GSRs was the downward trend in weekly operative cases. The integration of surgical skills labs utilizing human body donors could prove to be beneficial for education. The use of human body donors for anatomy education is not a novel idea, however research needs to be done to better understand pros and cons of different preservation methods for surgical skill training. Traditionally formaldehyde is used as the main preservative however soft‐preservation techniques (such as alcohol and Thiel) and fresh‐frozen methods have been gaining popularity as an educational tool for professional students and surgical residents due to the many lifelike qualities the tissue retains during preservation. Studies using soft preserved donors have investigated skill confidence of GSR which all showed an increase in confidence for surgical skills for all PGY residents. Some of these skills include: surgical airway, tracheoesophageal injuries, thoracotomy‐cardiac injury, solid abdominal organ injury, and more. Integration of human body donors into GSR programs has proven to be advantageous for development of surgical skills and confidence in the capabilities of surgical residents. In an effort to improve anatomy education and surgical skill development for general surgery residents additional research should be done. Future studies need to compare the various educational anatomical models and preservation methods could prove to be advantageous.</jats:p>