Abstract Aims Assess confidence levels of general surgical foundation year one (FY1) doctors in managing surgical patients at the end of their rotation. Assess the impact of version one (V1) of the surgical handbook introduced in August 2023 and version two (V2) introduced in August 2024 on confidence levels. Methods V1 of the surgical handbook contained 76 pages. V2 contained 96 pages. V1 was given to the August 2023, December 2023 and April 2024 (Year 1) cohorts and V2 to the August 2024 cohort post-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 73% (27/37) Year 1 cohort and 50% (6/12) August 2024 cohort completed the survey. 96% (26/27) of Year 1 cohort had read V1 and 100% (6/6) of August 2024 read V2. Modal confidence scores were the same in eight of the ten questions. Modal confidence scores were higher in the August 2024 cohort for prescribing intravenous fluids and prescribing pre-emptive medication. The most favoured educational method of teaching for Year 1 was group-based discussion and case-based discussion for August 2024. Conclusions Confidence levels in all rotations were four and above. Confidence levels were higher in the August 2024 cohort with V2, however, due to lower numbers of responses more data is required to support these findings.
George et al. (Fri,) studied this question.