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Can trauma leagues contribute to better cognitive performance and technical skills of medical students? The experience of the Unicamp trauma league

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European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Trauma leagues (TLs) are extracurricular programs that offer medical students supervised exposure to trauma and acute care surgery, mentorship, and participation in other academic activities. TLs are fully approved medical schools, and currently, over 100 TLs exist in Brazil. We hypothesized that the performance/competence of medical students who participated in TLs was superior compared to non-participants. This study evaluated and compared the cognitive performance and technical skills of the two groups.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study evaluated the performance of TL medical students to non-TL alumni from 2005 to 2017, using the students’ academic performance coefficient, Clinical Competence Assessment, and Progress Test results. SigmaPlot 12.0 software was used to perform statistical analyses, including Mann–Whitney comparison tests and the Kruskal–Wallis test to confirm the data.

Results

Of the 1366 medical students who graduated from a Brazilian university, 966 were included, with 17.9% having participated in TL. Compared to non-TL participants, TL students demonstrated better cognitive performance according to the performance coefficient (p = 0.017) and Progress Test result (p < 0.001), and higher achievement in the Clinical Competence Assessment (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The academic performance of TL students was superior to that of non-TL students at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), suggesting a positive impact of TL in the preparation of future doctors. The study findings suggest that participation in TL at Unicamp was beneficial in preparing better doctors and should be considered by medical schools worldwide.

Evidence level: II (Retrospective cohort).

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Denise Coelho de Queiroz for assisting with the statistical analysis of this study. We particularly thank all trauma league (UTL) alumni. We also thank our mentors, Admar Concon Filho and Prof. Mario Mantovani (in memoriam).

Funding

This study received no funding from any agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical School of the Vale do Rio Doce University (Univale), Governador Valadares, MG, Brazil

    Romeo Lages Simões

  2. Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Governador Valadares Campus (UFJF-GV), Governador Valadares, MG, Brazil

    Romeo Lages Simões

  3. Department of Pediatrics, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, R. Tessália Vieira de Camargo, 126 - Cidade Universitária, PO BOX 13083-887, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Angélica Maria Bicudo

  4. School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, R. Tessália Vieira de Camargo, 126 - Cidade Universitária, PO BOX 13083-887, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Sílvia Maria Riceto Ronchin Passeri

  5. Division of Trauma Surgery, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, R. Tessália Vieira de Camargo, 126 - Cidade Universitária, PO BOX 13083-887, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Thiago Rodrigues Araújo Calderan & Gustavo Pereira Fraga

  6. Medical Director for Trauma, Hamad General Hospital, PO BOX 3050, Doha, Qatar

    Sandro Rizoli

Authors
  1. Romeo Lages Simões
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  2. Angélica Maria Bicudo
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  3. Sílvia Maria Riceto Ronchin Passeri
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  6. Gustavo Pereira Fraga
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by RLS, GPF. The first draft of the manuscript was written by RL, GPF, SR and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Romeo Lages Simões.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was registered with the National Research Ethics Committee, via Plataforma Brasil, under CAAE number 99805218.5.0000.5404, and approved by the Unicamp Research Ethics Committee under opinion no. 3.177.726. The need for informed consent was waived.

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Simões, R.L., Bicudo, A.M., Passeri, S.M.R.R. et al. Can trauma leagues contribute to better cognitive performance and technical skills of medical students? The experience of the Unicamp trauma league. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg 49, 1909–1916 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-023-02283-z

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