PS7-05: CLERKSHIP FACTORS INFLUENCING MEDICAL STUDENT INTEREST IN SURGERY
Al-Faraaz Kassam, MD, Alexander R Cortez, MD, Leah K Winer, MD, Krishna P Athota, MD, Ralph C Quillin III, MD; University of Cincinnati

Introduction: Interest in general surgery has declined over the past decade. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of one’s interest in surgery and its relationship to residency match.

Methods: During the 2016-2017 academic year, 166 students completed the surgical clerkship and were invited to complete clerkship surveys assessing learning style, burnout, and grit. Groups were compared using Wilcoxon rank-sum and Chi-square test/Fischer’s exact test. Statistical significance was set at p <0.05.

Results: Surveys were completed by 62 students (37.4%), of whom 51.6% (n=32) expressed an interest in surgery. There were no differences with regard to age, gender, or learning style (all p values >0.05); however, no minority students expressed interest in surgery (p=0.02). Students interested in surgery were more likely to have identified a surgical mentor prior to the rotation (34.4% vs 10.0%, p=0.02). Upon completion of the clerkship, students not interested in surgery had higher emotional exhaustion (20 vs 25, p=0.03). However, there was no difference in final grade between the groups (86.3 vs 85.3, p=0.56). Additionally, 39 students reported a change in interest in surgery and females were more likely to lose interest in surgery (OR=13.3, 95% CI 1.4-130.3, p=0.03). Among the students interested in surgery, 9 matched into a surgical specialty, 15 matched in non-surgical specialties, and 8 did not match (but attempted to match in a surgical specialty). Compared to students who matched into non-surgical specialties, students who successfully matched into surgery had higher grit scores (3.8 vs 3.5, p=0.01) and were more likely to be action-based learners (66.7% vs 26.7%, p=0.02).

Conclusions: In this study, we found that student interest does not impact clerkship performance, but those not interested had higher emotional exhaustion, suggesting that interest may play a role in adapting to the challenges of the clerkship. However, of those interested in surgery, only one third successfully matched into surgery. These students were more likely action-based learners with high grit, similar to surgical residents. As such, compatible personality factors may influence a student’s ability to match into a given specialty more than interest alone.