ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the trainee is represented (specifically, pedagogised) in teaching practices. It queries how pedagogic practices contained in the currently promoted surgical curriculum (ISC 2016) and clinical workplace-based assessments such as procedure-based assessments (PBAs) identify, position and regulate learners (i.e. trainees) and teachers (i.e. trainers). By problematising the nature of training practices, that is, both the theoretical and the lived experience, this chapter attempts to deepen the understanding of what factors and ideologies constitute how trainees and trainers in surgery and medicine are engaged in teaching and learning activities. How do the relevant training materials capture and accommodate the reality of clinical practice? How is the notion of clinical competency constructed? What do assessments of operative training actually measure or seek to identify? Judith Butler’s writings inform the analysis of the power relations that exist within training systems and training relationships. In addition, the critical discussions of this chapter are informed by pedagogies of encounter, the theoretical framework developed in Chapters 2 and 3, which explore the affective aspects of experiencing in encounters with clinical practice.
