Eye-tracking can differentiate surgical residents’ cognitive strategies, critical for tailored education.

• Three distinct gaze phenotypes identified among 57 residents: expert-like, structured but superficial, and exploratory.
• Focused-stable-systematic patterns seen in years 4-5; brief-active-exploratory in years 1-2.

Utilizing these insights can enhance tailored training and competency evaluations in surgical education.

• Gaze patterns explain 87.7% of variance in learning approaches, indicating potential for personalized feedback and curriculum design.