Abstract Aims Assess confidence levels of general surgical foundation year one (FY1) doctors in managing surgical patients at the start of their rotation. Assess the impact of version one (V1) of the surgical handbook introduced in 2023 and version two (V2) introduced in 2024 on confidence levels. Methods V1 of the surgical handbook contained 76 pages. V2 contained 96 pages. V1 was given to the August 2023 cohort and V2 to the August 2024 cohort pre-rotation. Ten questions used Likert scales (1 to 5: not at all confident to very confident) to assess general surgical patient management. One question focused on education methods and one open question. Data was initially inputted using Google Docs and analysed in Microsoft Excel. Results 100% (12/12) August 2023 cohort and 100% (12/12) August 2024 cohort completed the survey. 83% (10/12) of August 2023 cohort had read V1 and 100% (12/12) of August 2024 read V1. Modal confidence scores were the same in seven of the ten questions. Modal confidence scores were higher in the August 2024 cohort for speaking to a dying patient’s family. Modal confidence scores were higher in managing a patient with appendicitis and prescribing intravenous fluids in the August 2023 cohort. The most favoured educational method of teaching for both cohorts was group-based discussion. Conclusions Confidence levels were higher in more areas pre-rotation with V1 compared to V2 of the surgical handbook. Version 2 of the handbook needs further development to support FY1 doctors.
Zhu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.