Surgical Skills Day: Bridging the Gap

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Skills Training

Background:

• The General Medical Council (GMC) mandates surgical skill competency for new doctors, yet undergraduates often lack basic wound closure skills.
• Current undergraduate clinical teaching methods may not ensure long-term retention of essential surgical techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a Surgical Skills Day (SSD) in enhancing medical students' basic wound closure skills.
• To assess the impact of the SSD on student confidence and interest in surgical careers.

Main Methods:

• A workshop on basic wound closure skills was conducted for medical students.
• Student self-assessments and instructor assessments were compared pre- and post-workshop using paired t-tests.

Main Results:

• 100% of participating students reported improved competency in wound closure skills post-SSD (p < 0.001).
• Instructor assessments corroborated a 100% improvement in at least one assessed skill (p < 0.001).
• 64% of students expressed increased likelihood of pursuing surgery.

Conclusions:

• Surgical Skills Days are highly effective in improving surgical skills acquisition and boosting student confidence.
• Integrating SSDs into medical school curricula is recommended to address deficiencies in undergraduate surgical training.