We are excited to announce the formation of Procedural Learning and Safety Collaborative (PLSC)!  This is the first non-profit exclusively dedicated to improving the evaluation and training of residents in the procedural specialities.

Initially composed of surgical educators from Northwestern University, Indiana University, and Massachusetts General Hospital, we welcome new research collaborators and/or those who want to become more involved in the organization itself.  Our primary focus right now is to finish the development and then the launch of our smart-phone based evaluation system called SIMPL:  System for Improving and Measuring Procedural Learning.  We anticipate beginning beta testing at one of the founding institutions in the spring of 2015, with national launch to immediately follow.  At the same time we are actively fundraising and building out or organizational capacity.  On the research front we have several projects in the design phase, including a multi-institutional trial that we are planning to do in collaboration with the American Board of Surgery.

Our first blog post wouldn't be complete without a hearty thank you to the three founding institutions who have so generously funded this effort for the past 3 years.  Thank you MGH, IU, and NU!

-All of us at PLSC