"Surgery Was a Rotation That I Dreaded:" Medical Student's Perceptions of Surgeons

Medical students may bring biased, unfavorable attitudes about surgeons to the surgical clerkship. These preconceived ideas can negatively impact the surgical clerkship experience-making students less likely to pursue careers in surgery and more likely to maintain negative attitudes toward their surgical colleagues when they enter practice. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively analyze essays written by medical students during their surgical clerkship to assess their perceptions of surgeons.

Retrospective qualitative review of essays written by all medical students on the surgical clerkship at a university hospital from April 2017 to May 2023. Perceptions of surgeons were identified by two investigators using content analysis by first coding each essay as positive, negative, or not mentioned, and then identifying main themes.

Of the 626 student essays reviewed, 308 (49%) included student's perception of surgeons: 141 (46%) perceived surgeons positively, and 167 (54%) held negative perceptions. Nine themes were identified: (1) traits of a surgeon; (2) stereotypes-confirmed or debunked; (3) surgeons as decision-makers; (4) surgeons as communicators; (5) honesty and disclosure; (6) patient-centric (or not); (7) trust; (8) informed consent; and (9) professionalism in the operating room.

Many medical students have negative perceptions of surgeons. Identifying student's perceptions will allow surgical educators to provide targeted guidance to clinical and preclinical students to help ensure accurate depictions of surgeons and surgery as a profession. These efforts may improve recruitment of students into the surgical workforce and subsequent multidisciplinary interactions with colleagues.