Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract Aim To establish the impact of a student-led surgical conference on medical student interest and understanding of surgical training pathways. Method The University College Cork Surgical Society organized a two-day conference aimed at medical students. Specialties represented were neurosurgery, cardiothoracic, orthopedic, maxillofacial, colorectal, and plastic surgery. An anonymous digital survey was distributed to attendees following the conference. Ethical approval was obtained from the social research ethics committee. Paired sample T-tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used in data analyses. Results 48.9% attendees completed the questionnaire (44/90). Students' self-reported knowledge of surgical specialties increased from mean 2.84 ±0.31 to 4.09 ±0.24 (p0.001). Overall understanding of training pathways increased from 2.52 ±0.39 to 3.66 ±0.35 (p0.001). Pre-clinical students' knowledge of specialties increased from mean 2.64 ± 0.33 to 4 ± 0.27 (p.001) and clinical year students’ knowledge increased from 3.75 ± 0.59 to 4.38 ± 0.62 (p.05). Pre-clinical students' reported understanding of the pathways increased from 2.17 ± 0.4 to 3.5 ± .39 (p.001). Clinical year students’ understanding of surgical training pathways increased from 3.63 ± 0.43 to 4.5 ± 0.45 (p0.05). The most frequently perceived barrier reported to a surgical career was the competitiveness of such a career (36.4%), followed by work-life balance (34.1%). Male and female students reported different perceived barriers. 50% students reported they were more likely to pursue a surgical career after the conference. Conclusions The study highlights the impact of educational strategies directed at undergraduate level. These have the potential to engage, educate and recruit future surgical trainees.
Vesey et al. (Mon,) studied this question.