Primary palliative care (PPC) is provided by the primary team and is essential for high-quality surgical care. There is a recognized PPC clinical and research need but little work on the optimal way to teach PPC to general surgery residents. We sought to define important factors of PPC pedagogy (i.e. nature and practice of teaching).

Eight semi-structured and multi-professional focus groups (n = 34) were performed. Discussion was transcribed, and de-identified. Qualitative approaches were used to encode, identify, and categorize emergent themes.

Emergent themes included: establishing a baseline knowledge, use of existing resources, simulation and debriefings, and emphasis on authentic clinical opportunities with graduated responsibility. A tension between resident entrustability and hesitancy of faculty to entrust was identified.

PPC must be taught in surgical residency and the themes identified here will inform development and implementation of a PPC curriculum.