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Updated: Aug 23, 2026
Emergency Undocking in Robotic Surgery: A Simulation Curriculum
Published on: May 20, 2018
A senior elective designed to prepare medical students for surgical residency
Margaret L Boehler1, David A Rogers, Cathy J Schwind
1Department of Surgery, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, PO Box 19655, Springfield, IL 62794-9655, USA. mboehler@siumed.edu
Background:
The transition from medical student to surgery internship can be stressful. The goal of this project was to design, implement, and evaluate a 1-month long elective course that would meet the majority of the American College of Surgeons Graduate Medical Education Committee prerequisites for graduate surgical education
Methods:
The major elements of the curriculum included faculty- and resident-facilitated case-based sessions and cadaver dissections. In addition, the students participated in skills laboratory experiences, Intensive Care Unit rounds, and mock interviews and clinical pages. The students took a knowledge pretest and post-test that was compared with the performance of 8 surgical interns on the same examination.
Results:
The highest rated elements of the course were those that provided hands-on experience or practical knowledge. The post-test knowledge examination scores were significantly higher than pretest scores and surgical intern scores.
Conclusions:
It was possible to develop a 1-month senior medical student elective course that provided students with the essential prerequisites believed to be essential for all surgical interns.
