[The surgeon's balancing act-Teaching in the clinical routine].

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Healthcare Professions Education

Background:

• Medical students often lack inspiration for surgical specialties due to perceived teaching limitations.
• Existing research primarily assesses student perceptions, with limited focus on educator challenges in surgical training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze student teaching within daily surgical routines from the perspective of educators.
• To identify potential problems and challenges faced by surgeons in teaching medical students.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study utilizing semistructured interviews with open-ended questions.
• Interviews were guided by formulated questions and recorded, with content saturation determining the number of participants.

Main Results:

• Educators universally value clinical teaching but note unachieved learning goals, primarily due to time constraints.
• Deficiencies in student prior knowledge and motivation were reported, alongside a lack of appreciation for teaching efforts.
• Despite being perceived as a burden, educators found teaching to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Conclusions:

• Lack of personnel and appreciation are significant barriers to effective surgical teaching.
• Enhancing the value of teaching through recognition of achievements and transparency is essential.
• Addressing these obstacles can improve the quality of medical student education in surgery.