Background Overwhelming stress in the operating room can lead to decay in operative performance, particularly for residents who lack experience. Mental skills training can minimize deterioration in performance during challenging situations. We hypothesized that residents trained on mental skills would outperform controls under increased stress conditions in the simulated operating room.

Methods Residents from Indiana University enrolled voluntarily in this institutional review board–approved study. Residents were stratified according to baseline characteristics and randomized into a mental skills and control group. Both groups trained to proficiency in laparoscopic suturing, but only the mental skills group received mental skills training. After training, technical skill transfer was assessed under regular and stressful conditions on a porcine model. Performance was assessed using an objective suturing score. The Test of Performance Strategies was used to assess the use of mental skills. Data were combined and compared with data that had been collected at Carolinas Healthcare System because residents underwent the same protocol.

Results A total of 38 residents completed all study elements. There were no differences in the effects observed between sites. We observed no group differences at baseline. The groups achieved similar technical performance at baseline, posttest, and transfer test under low-stress conditions, but the mental skills group outperformed the control group during the transfer test under high-stress conditions.

Conclusion Our comprehensive mental skills curriculum implemented with surgery residents at two institutions was effective at minimizing the deterioration of resident technical performance under stressful conditions compared with controls. These results provide further evidence for the effectiveness of mental skills training to optimize surgery trainees’ technical performance during challenging clinical situations.