Perceptions of Pre-Clerkship Surgical Scrub Training and Operating Room Orientation Among Medical Students: A Needs Assessment and Pilot Implementation

OBJECTIVES: Early clinical exposure is essential for medical students, yet the degree varies across institutions. At UC Irvine School of Medicine, pre-clerkship students lacked a formal surgical scrub training program. This limited their operating room (OR) participation to shadowing, potentially hindering preparation for surgical rotations and competitiveness for surgical residencies. This study aimed to assess student attitudes and experiences regarding OR etiquette and sterile technique, with the goal of informing recommendations for a formal pre-clerkship scrub training and OR orientation program. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional survey paired with a single-group pre-post pilot intervention was conducted at UC Irvine School of Medicine. Following the needs assessment survey, a formal OR introduction session was implemented for first-year medical students, covering essential OR topics and including a hands-on demonstration of scrubbing, gowning, and gloving techniques. Unpaired pre- and post-surveys assessed student interest and self-reported confidence. PARTICIPANTS: In Phase 1, 81 medical students (MS1-MS4) responded to an anonymous survey (18% response rate; 30 MS1s, 13 MS2s, 10 MS3s, 28 MS4s). In Phase 2, 101 MS1s completed pre-training surveys and 89 completed post-training surveys. RESULTS: Across all class years, 73% of students preferred pre-clerkship timing for formal scrub training. Among MS1s, 100% supported pre-clerkship implementation. The majority of MS3s (80%) and MS4s (69%) agreed earlier training would have been at least somewhat helpful. Following the pilot session, the proportion of MS1s feeling very confident in their ability to scrub in increased from 5% to 27%, and those very confident in maintaining sterility increased from 14% to 40%. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students across all class years strongly support formal pre-clerkship scrub training, and a pilot 1-hour OR introduction session substantially improved MS1 confidence. These findings support implementing optional pre-clerkship OR preparation programs and may inform similar curriculum initiatives at other institutions.