528 Leicester SCRUBS Surgical Mentoring Scheme for Medical Students

Abstract Background Surgically themed mentoring schemes for medical students are critical in inspiring the next generation of surgeons. With surgical skills not classically taught as much compared to other aspects of the medical curriculum, alongside the ever-building NHS backlog, other avenues must be utilized to inspire and train future surgeons. The University of Leicester surgical society, alongside clinicians at University Hospitals of Leicester, therefore, have run a surgically themed mentoring programme for clinical medical students to address this. Method Clinical year medical students sign up to the scheme annually and are assigned a registrar or consultant mentor, matching preferences in specialty, gender, and ethnicity where possible. The scheme has now run for three years, with data collected post-scheme annually via a mixed methods survey. Results In the 2022-23 cohort, 81 Leicester medical students enrolled into the scheme. Students’ pre-scheme expectations were met, including increasing surgical opportunities, developing a surgical portfolio, and increasing research and audit opportunities. An increase in the quantitative likelihood of pursuing a surgical career was observed, rising from 3.48 to 3.65 (Likert scale 1-5). However, students said they would prefer more structure to the scheme and a mock agenda to aid meetings with their mentors. Conclusions Overall, there is a clear benefit in surgical mentoring for medical students and may contribute to increasing numbers entering surgical training. Further work needs to be done to generate a structure to guide frequency and content of meetings with mentors. This is currently being developed for the fourth cohort.