E. Palmquist1, T. Feeney2, A. Chatterjee1, D. Nepomnayshy3, L. Chen1 1Tufts Medical Center,Department Of Surgery,Boston, MA, USA 2Boston University,Department Of Surgery,Boston, MA, USA 3Lahey Hospital & Medical Center,Department Of Surgery,Burlington, MA, USA
Introduction: There have been many changes to surgical education over the last few decades. With increased attention to patient safety, there is a push to better prepare our medical students prior to starting a surgical residency. We present our results from a pilot study of creating a senior medical student surgical boot camp including analysis of the learner’s perspectives of boot camps.
Methods: Graduating senior medical students entering a surgical residency underwent a voluntary three-day surgical boot camp. Pre-and post-surveys were used to evaluate confidence levels of common patient management issues as well as technical skills. Qualitative analysis of a focus group using a general inductive approach was used to develop themes surrounding students’ perceptions of boot camps.
Results: Ten medical students completed the boot camp. We found that most students were somewhat confident (3 on a 5-point Likert scale) in their abilities to manage common intern problems with increased variation among students for technical skills prior to the boot camp. Students all had improvements in confidence scores post boot camp for all measured tasks.
From our qualitative analysis we found that students prefer a voluntary, surgery specific boot camp at the end of medical school as oppose to the start of their residency. Being given the choice to partake in the intervention provided the participating students with more motivation during the boot camp, supporting adult learning theory. Some of the students’ major concerns include being the first point of contact for patient issues as well as being the first responder to patient emergencies. Students worry about their ability to multi-task and manage a large amount of information which differed from their experience as a medical student. In addition, students are realistic about their expectations from a preparatory boot camp and value it as an experience to help “jump start” their transition to residency.
Conclusion: Our pilot study suggests that surgical boot camps may successfully improve students’ confidence in patient management and technical skills prior to the start of their intern year. In addition, we found major themes surrounding students’ perceptions of boot camp which may assist with future development of these programs. Students prefer a voluntary boot camp and value the experience at a medical school level. In addition, they are realistic in that a preparatory course will not teach them all they need to know prior to residency but more as a tool to help their transition.