Abstract
Purpose
Exposure to surgery in preclinical years of medical school is traditionally very limited. It is estimated that 59% of students make their career decision before their core clinical year of medical school. Meanwhile, there is estimated to be a shortage of 14,300–23,400 surgical specialists by the year 2032. Factors contributing to medical students selecting non-surgical residencies include marginalization during the surgical clerkship as well as lack of preparedness and exposure to surgical careers. To provide timely and positive exposure to surgical fields, we designed a 12-week elective “Introduction to Surgery” course for preclinical medical students. This study describes the development and reports impact of this course.
Methods
A single institution prospective cohort study was performed. Forty preclinical medical students attended a total of ten didactic sessions, a surgical skills lab, and surgery resident panel in the Fall of 2021. Pre- and post-course Likert format surveys were distributed to participants. Participants also rated course content and lecturers after each course session. Paired t tests were used for analysis of pre- and post-course survey responses.
Results
Students gave high ratings to course content (4.78/5) and lecturers (4.81/5). Students’ confidence in their basic surgical skills, perceived readiness for the surgical clerkship, reported likelihood of entering a surgical career, and reported satisfaction with exposure to surgery in the preclinical timeframe all significantly improved after course participation (p < 0.005). Similarly, students’ reported perceptions toward surgeons and surgery as a career significantly improved following course participation.
Conclusion
The development and implementation of a preclinical course in surgery significantly increased students’ interests in a surgical career, and students’ perceived readiness for the surgical clerkship. Preclinical introduction of surgery is a promising avenue through which to improve student perceptions of surgery while simultaneously preparing them for further exploration of surgical fields through exposure to surgical mentors and role models.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the University of Colorado Department of Surgery for providing support in the form of faculty and resident support. Additional thanks are given for providing access to surgical simulation skills models for course participants to use during the skills session of our elective course.
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Each author (BC, SS, KT, KJ, TW) contributed significantly to the production of this manuscript and met the criteria for authorship. Each author certifies they have made a direct and substantial contribution to the work reported in the manuscript by participating in each of the following areas: (1) conceiving and designing the study; or collecting the data; or analyzing and interpreting the data; (2) writing the manuscript or providing critical revisions that are important for the intellectual content; and (3) approving the final version of the manuscript.
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Carter, B., Sempson, S., Tuthill, K. et al. Introduction to surgery in preclinical years: curriculum development and impact. Global Surg Educ 3, 43 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44186-024-00241-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44186-024-00241-w