Summary:
Background:
Essential Skills in the Management of Surgical Cases (ESMSC) is an
international, animal model-based course. It combines Applied Surgical Science
interactive lectures and basic science workshops, with wet lab simulation
modules on a swine model. It consists of two In Vivo experiments, including
Anatomy Demonstration and Heart and Transplant Surgery, as well as four Ex Vivo
stations i.e. suturing, wound debridement, intravenous (IV) access, Open
Reduction Internal Fixation of Hand Fractures (ORIF).
Materials and Methods:
49 Medical Students (Male, N=27, Female N=22, mean age = 23.7 years old), doing
their clinical rotations, attended the course. Out of these 26.5% (N=13) were
Year 3 students from King’s College London (KCL), whereas 73.5% (N=36) were
students from Greek Universities, from whom, 32.7% (N=16) were Year 4, 22.4
(N=11) Year 5 and 18.4% (N=9) Year 6. Participants underwent a Multiple Choice
Question (MCQ) exam, consisting of 32 questions before and after the course, as
well as Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) assessments, before and
after completion of every wet lab skill module. The paired t-test was used to
evaluate whether there was statistically significant improvement. Feedback
questionnaires were filled out throughout the course.
Aim:
To evaluate the effectiveness of a combined applied surgical science and wet
lab simulation course as a teaching model for surgical skills at the
undergraduate level.
Results:
The overall idea of the course was thought to be effective by participants
(9.42/10, min=7, max=10, SD=0.72), who think that this would improve their
ability to deal with surgical cases (9.50/10, min=7, max=10, SD=0.86), and they
prefer this to be part of their Medical School Curriculum (9.78/10, min, min=7,
max=10, SD=0.61). The mean MCQ score was improved by 2.33 out of 32 (15.33
versus 18.00, p<0.005). Surgical skills competences, as defined by DOPS scores,
were improved in a statically significant manner (p<0.005 for all paired t-test
correlations for the in vivo and ex vivo model).
Conclusions:
ESMSC seems to be an effective teaching model, which improves the understanding
of the surgical approach and the basic surgical skills. In vivo models could be
used potentially as a step further in the Undergraduate Surgical Education. The
vast majority of delegates would prefer this to be part of the Medical School
curriculum
Keywords:
Undergraduate Surgical Education, Wet Lab Simulation, In Vivo Simulation, Surgical Science, Ex Vivo Simulation
