The Purpose of the Surgical Procedure Log Book

The surgical procedure log book is a complete record of a surgeon's operative work during the surgical training period and post training career. It is required for training, assessment and revalidation processes. Whilst not a formal assessment document, it cannot demonstrate procedural competency, but it does provide evidence of the surgeon's breadth of experience by means of its lists of procedures, number of cases and level of surgical participation.

During the recruitment process, the surgical or procedural log book has become a credential document increasingly required by employers and professional regulatory authorities, to evaluate the training and experience of international medical graduates (IMGs).

Whilst not yet one of the 3 essential documents required to start a job search, it is worth prioritising its preparation as delays in the recruitment process whilst you hunt for data to create a log book, give the impression of being disorganised and can cost you the job.

1: Confirm the Data Sources

Most surgeons have worked at several hospitals both during and after training and will have to procure data from different healthcare facilities. This can be a time consuming process. The Royal College of Surgeons has a digital log book for surgical trainees which consolidates the data from various sources and permits the application of digital signatures from supervisors and clinical directors. This is an invaluable resource for demonstrating surgical experience during training but the post training period is not included.

Many hospitals have digital records of surgical procedures which can be accessed and downloaded quickly but if these are not available then a manual trawl through the data may be the only way to obtain it. A list of all relevant healthcare facilities should be complied and the data requested.

2: Create a Template Document

An excel template document is a convenient way to combine data from different sources, standardise the data fields and create a summary of the data. . It can be created in microsoft excel and google docs and regularly updated.

Data to be included

• date of procedure
• location of procedure (name of hospital)
• name of procedure
• lead surgeon
• your role in the procedure: Observed (O), Assisted (A), Supervised - Trainer Scrubbed (S-TS), Supervised - Trainer unscrubbed (S- TU), Performed (P), Training More junior trainee (T).
• any complications
• any learning outcomes.

Data to be excluded

• redact all patient data

3: Create a Summary

Employers and medical practitioner regulatory authorities vary the amount of data required for their evaluations but a period of 2-5 years experience is an average. Most surgeons will have data from different hospitals and it is worth creating a summary document for quick reference as an overview.

List the name of each procedure with the number of procedures performed in each role ( as listed above).

4: Official Validation

Surgical log books should be validated by senior surgeons, and if possible the Clinical Director. A signature at the end of each data set confirming the veracity of the data is sufficient.

If you are searching for a new job and are uncertain of the credentialing requirements, contact our recruiters who will be able to advise what is needed for the job and the professional licence application.