In the operating room, a team is required to effectively perform surgical procedures; part of this team includes a unique duo, an attending and a resident. This dynamic exists due to the nature of teaching hospitals, in which resident autonomy is encouraged. When the dynamic between the two are weakened, the resident, attending, and the patient suffers. A better understanding of how residents and faculty members interact in the operating room will allow for more informed conversations about resident education, graded autonomy, and effective teaching styles. We conducted a prospective observational study in which residents and faculty members were observed in the operating room at the University of Alabama - Birmingham. Entrustment was defined using the validated OpTrust tool either as low, medium, high, or full entrustability. The primary outcome of entrustment was divided between 5 domains: (I) types of questions asked, (II) operative plan, (III) instruction, (IV) problem solving, and (V) leadership by the surgical resident. Due to the continuous enrollment of cases, formal statistical analysis has not been performed. However, if discrepancies are found we will be able to target the persons and/or the procedure, in which those discrepancies are found.
