The introduction of standardized clinical surgical teaching: students' and tutors' perceptions of new teaching and learning aids

Increased student numbers coupled with changes in healthcare delivery mean that medical students have limited access to surgical patients, so novel methods of teaching surgery need to be considered.

To design, implement and evaluate standardised clinical surgical teaching for 3rd year undergraduate medical students.

A questionnaire survey (forced-choice answers plus open comments) of student and tutor (n = 7) attitudes towards the use of simulated patients and history-taking checklists in clinical surgical teaching sessions. Two cohorts of students received the same teaching, including opportunity for history-taking from a simulated patient (SP). One cohort (n = 61) received subject-specific checklists to aid history-taking; the second cohort (n = 63) received a generic checklist.

Forced-choice student data showed a preference for the subject-specific checklists but their open comments acknowledged the checklists' limitations. Tutors viewed the subject-specific checklists as detrimental to learning and the generic checklist as not adding value. SPs were valued by both tutors and students, but more so by students who had also received the subject-specific checklists. Students' and tutors' views differed on forced-choice evaluation forms, but were similar when open comments were taken into account.

Reviewing open comments is time-consuming but there is much value in including them in evaluation.