Improving Paediatric Surgical Teaching and Learning in a Medical Program Through Online Learning

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Digital Learning

Background:

• Increasing medical student numbers in Australia have strained hospital teaching capacity.
• This has led to reduced student exposure to paediatric surgery training.
• Existing paediatric surgery education faced challenges with framework, quality, and quantity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve access to paediatric surgery education for medical students.
• To develop and evaluate an online, self-directed learning module.
• To address identified gaps in surgical teaching capacity and equity.

Main Methods:

• Conducted pre- and post-implementation focus groups and surveys with medical students.
• Developed an online learning module based on student feedback and curriculum guidelines.
• Utilized mixed methods, including descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis, for assessment.

Main Results:

• Pre-implementation, students reported dissatisfaction with paediatric surgical teaching.
• Post-implementation, students showed high satisfaction with both the quality and quantity of teaching.
• The online module was implemented for 919 students, with significant positive feedback.

Conclusions:

• The online learning module successfully improved access to and satisfaction with paediatric surgery education.
• It enabled more equitable distribution of educational materials among students.
• Online learning may offer a valuable solution for undergraduate surgical education, especially concerning accessibility.