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Published on: May 20, 2018
A Hands-On Surgical Event to Improve Medical Student Operating Room Confidence
Sarah E Adkins1, Heather M Minchew1, Katelyn Sanner Dixon1
1University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, Kansas.
Introduction:
The negative perceptions and lack of exposure to surgery and the operating room (OR) have been known to divert students away from surgical specialties. This study describes the impact of a surgical subspecialty exposure event (OR Essentials), combined with surgical faculty and M4 mentorship on preclinical medical students' confidence at an academic medical center.
Methods:
OR essentials event teaches surgical skills to preclinical medical students through hands-on skill-based workshops in a simulated OR setting. Pre and postevaluations were administered to measure program impact.
Results:
One hundred four preclinical medical students participated. Following OR essentials, students reported a significant increase in confidence in the OR (P < 0.0001) and in basic surgical skills (P < 0.0001).
Conclusions:
Early surgical exposure events like OR essentials provide opportunities to improve medical student confidence in the OR, which will hopefully support recruitment of future surgeons.
