PS4 - 05: EVOLUTION OF A PREPARATION FOR SURGERY RESIDENCY COURSE: 10 YEAR EXPERIENCE AND TRANSITION TO THE "ACS/APDS/ASE RESIDENT PREP CURRICULUM"
Alan Dackiw1, Aimee Gardner2, Deborah Hogg1, Diana Diesen1, Rohit Sharma1, Sergio Huerta1; 1UT Southwestern, 2Baylor College of Medicine
Objective: To assess the status of a "Preparation for Surgery Residency Course" and transition to the "ACS/APDS/ASE Resident Prep Curriculum" by reviewing our ten year institutional experience and a systematic analysis of the literature.
Background: Transitional activities to prepare senior medical students for surgery residency are becoming critical as surgical education evolves. The steep learning curve from medical school to internship requires a myriad of technical and cognitive skills that are uniformly required by all interns at the beginning of residency. Goals and objectives as well of methods of evaluation have not been standardized.
Methods: An institutional course review and a systematic review of the literature was performed with the primary objectives of evaluating course efficacy and assessing papers that defined objectives, methods of course evaluation and longitudinal assessment of the program in order to compare the different curricula.
Results: Since 2008, 106 students have participated in a "Preparation for Surgery Residency Course" at our institution. A cognitive test consisting of 65 questions provided by the faculty demonstrated a marked improvement for all participants at the completion of the course. Pre-course score mean was 53.5% (± SD 7.8) compared to a post-course score of 78.3% (± SD 7.2). Comfort level in 51 clinical categories demonstrated marked improvement; students demonstrated increased confidence in 48/51 categories (p ≤ 0.05). Systematic analysis of the literature inclusive of 216 students demonstrated a uniform experience in several intern tasks. Students gained confidence in readiness for internship with a durability of skills learned during the program of 2-6 months. There was a wide variety of curricula amongst programs. Assessment tools varied across manuscripts examined. Analysis of post-graduate effectiveness was limited.
Conclusions: Student participation in a "Preparation for Surgery Residency Course" is advantageous for the early months of internship. There are still insufficient programs with a structured preparation curriculum. Curricula are heterogeneous. An emphasis should be placed on standardizing these activities across medical schools as well as assessment tools for short and long term benefits. Implementation of the "ACS/APDS/ASE Resident Prep Curriculum" would achieve these goals.