Planting the 'SEAD': early comprehensive exposure to surgery for medical students

The popularity of surgical specialties is declining amongst Canadian medical students. Limited early exposure of students to surgery and minor involvement of surgeons in preclerkship education are barriers to creating interest in the field. Although many informal observerships and interest groups exist, there are no structured programs in Canada that offer preclerkship medical students a comprehensive exposure to surgery.

Twenty first-year medical students participated in the Surgical Exploration and Discovery (SEAD) Program. SEAD is a pilot project at the University of Toronto providing a unique combination of (1) observerships, (2) informal discussions on surgical careers, and (3) hands-on simulation workshops across all 7 direct-entry specialties within the Department of Surgery. All participants underwent pretraining and posttraining evaluation of learning through a paper-based knowledge test and all completed a structured survey on the benefit of the course.

Comparison of test scores revealed an overall significant improvement in learning (p<0.0001). The improvement in test scores was seen in the knowledge of all 3 components of the course (p<0.0001). Qualitative evaluation revealed a positive student experience, with 100% of students indicating that SEAD helped them identify new interests in surgical subspecialties. Finally, 100% of students stated that they would recommend the program to incoming medical students.

The SEAD Program successfully improves preclerkship students' knowledge of surgical principles, understanding of a career in surgery, and basic surgical skills. Participation in the program also positively influenced their interest in pursuing a career in surgery. Programs such as SEAD may be offered to preclerkship medical students to improve their exposure to surgery at this level of training and to enhance perspectives toward surgical careers.