TY - JOUR
T1 - A focused curriculum in surgical oncology for the third-year medical students
AU - Wisniewski, William R.
AU - Fournier, Keith F.
AU - Ling, Yan K.
AU - Slack, Rebecca S.
AU - Babiera, Gildy
AU - Grubbs, Elizabeth G.
AU - Moore, Laura J.
AU - Fleming, Jason B.
AU - Nancy You, Y.
PY - 2013/12
Y1 - 2013/12
N2 - Background: Educating medical students in surgical subspecialty fields can be challenging, and the optimal timing and curriculum remain unknown. Despite advocacy for earlier exposure, competing core clerkship rotations often leave little time for subspecialty fields. We report our experience with a novel, short, and focused curriculum in surgical oncology for the third-year medical students. Methods: A 2-wk (2009-2010) and a 4-wk (2010-2011) curriculum in surgical oncology were developed for the third-year students at a tertiary-referral cancer center, including formal didactics, rotation in clinical service of students' choosing (breast, gastrointestinal, endocrine, or melanoma), and case-based learning and presentation. Paired pre-and postrotation questionnaires were prospectively completed, including 20 items assessing knowledge and four items assessing experience. Grading was anonymous, and change in score was assessed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Paired questionnaires from47 students (2-wk rotation, n = 26; 4-wk rotation, n = 21) showed a median improvement of three points (21.4%) from pre-to posttests (P < 0.001). The improvement did not differ by the length of rotation or by the specific clinical service. Nearly all (93%) reported a positive and inspiring experience. The most valuable avenue of learning was reported as the time spent with resident or fellow or attending (92%), followed by self-directed reading (62%) and didactic lectures (28%). Conclusions: A short and focused curriculum in surgical oncology, including structured didactics and clinical rotation, had positive impact for the third-year students. Given the increasing work-hour limits, it is important to note that the time spent in the clinical setting continues to be ranked as the most educationally valuable by medical students.
AB - Background: Educating medical students in surgical subspecialty fields can be challenging, and the optimal timing and curriculum remain unknown. Despite advocacy for earlier exposure, competing core clerkship rotations often leave little time for subspecialty fields. We report our experience with a novel, short, and focused curriculum in surgical oncology for the third-year medical students. Methods: A 2-wk (2009-2010) and a 4-wk (2010-2011) curriculum in surgical oncology were developed for the third-year students at a tertiary-referral cancer center, including formal didactics, rotation in clinical service of students' choosing (breast, gastrointestinal, endocrine, or melanoma), and case-based learning and presentation. Paired pre-and postrotation questionnaires were prospectively completed, including 20 items assessing knowledge and four items assessing experience. Grading was anonymous, and change in score was assessed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Paired questionnaires from47 students (2-wk rotation, n = 26; 4-wk rotation, n = 21) showed a median improvement of three points (21.4%) from pre-to posttests (P < 0.001). The improvement did not differ by the length of rotation or by the specific clinical service. Nearly all (93%) reported a positive and inspiring experience. The most valuable avenue of learning was reported as the time spent with resident or fellow or attending (92%), followed by self-directed reading (62%) and didactic lectures (28%). Conclusions: A short and focused curriculum in surgical oncology, including structured didactics and clinical rotation, had positive impact for the third-year students. Given the increasing work-hour limits, it is important to note that the time spent in the clinical setting continues to be ranked as the most educationally valuable by medical students.
KW - Medical curriculum
KW - Medical education
KW - Medical school
KW - Surgical oncology
KW - Third-year surgery clerkship
KW - Work-hour limitations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84891702513&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84891702513&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jss.2013.06.019
DO - 10.1016/j.jss.2013.06.019
M3 - Article
C2 - 23845865
AN - SCOPUS:84891702513
SN - 0022-4804
VL - 185
SP - 555
EP - 560
JO - Journal of Surgical Research
JF - Journal of Surgical Research
IS - 2
ER -