Surgery clerkship evaluations drive improved professionalism

To determine whether a brief student survey can differentiate among third-year clerkship student's professionalism experiences and whether sharing specific feedback with surgery faculty and residents can lead to improvements.

Medical students completed a survey on professionalism at the conclusion of each third-year clerkship specialty rotation during academic years 2007-2010.

Comparisons of survey items in 2007-2008 revealed significantly lower ratings for the surgery clerkship on both Excellence (F = 10.75, p < 0.001) and Altruism/Respect (F = 15.59, p < 0.001) subscales. These data were shared with clerkship directors, prompting the surgery department to discuss student perceptions of professionalism with faculty and residents. Postmeeting ratings of surgery professionalism significantly improved on both Excellence and Altruism/Respect dimensions (p < 0.005 for each).

A brief survey can be used to measure student perceptions of professionalism and an intervention as simple as a surgery department openly sharing results and communicating expectations appears to drive positive change in student experiences.