Cross sectional analysis of student-led surgical societies in fostering medical student interest in Canada

Jin Soo A Song, Connor McGuire, Michael Vaculik, Alexander Morzycki, Madelaine Plourde, Jin Soo A Song, Connor McGuire, Michael Vaculik, Alexander Morzycki, Madelaine Plourde

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to examine how surgery interest groups (SIGs) across Canada function and influence medical students' interest in surgical careers.

Methods: Two unique surveys were distributed using a cross sectional design. The first was sent to SIG executives and the second to SIG members enrolled at a Canadian medical school in the 2016/17 academic year. The prior focused on the types of events hosted, SIG structure/ supports, and barriers/ plans for improvement. The second questionnaire focused on student experience, involvement, and suggestions for improvement.

Results: SIG executives became involved in SIG through classmates and colleagues (8/17, 47%). Their roles focused on organizing events (17/17, 100%), facilitating student contact with resident/surgeons (17/17, 100%), and organizing funding (13/17, 76%). Surgical skills events were among the most successful and well received by students (15/17, 88%). Major barriers faced by SIG executives during their tenure included time conflicts with other interest groups (13/17, 76%), lack of funding (8/17, 47%), and difficulty booking spaces for events (8,17, 47%). SIGs were found to facilitate improvement in basic surgical skills (μ = 3.89/5 ± 0.70) in a comfortable environment (μ = 4.02/5, ±0.6), but were not helpful with final block examinations (μ = 2.98/5, ±0.80). Members indicated that more skills sessions, panel discussion and shadowing opportunities would be beneficial additions. Overall, members felt that SIGs increased their interest in surgical careers (μ = 3.50/5, ±0.79).

Conclusion: Canadian SIGs not only play a critical role in early exposure, but may provide a foundation to contribute to student success in surgery.

Keywords: And mentors; Competence; Medical education.

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Approval for this study was obtained through the Nova Scotia Health Authority research ethics board. Consent was considered obtained if the participant compelted the survey, which was approved by the Nova Scotia Health Authority research ethics board.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Box and whisker plots of survey responses from SIG members. Ratings are on an ordinal Likert scale, where 1 = Strongly disagree and 5 = Strongly agree. The box represents the interquartile range, and the whiskers the minimum and maximum values. Median values are displayed as separate lines in the box, but often overlap with interquartile values and are not displayed

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Source: PubMed

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