Undergraduate Surgical Education for the Twenty-first Century
- 1 December 1992
- journal article
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in Annals of Surgery
- Vol. 216 (6) , 639-647
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00000658-199212000-00005
Abstract
This article addresses the problems associated with current undergraduate surgical education and discusses the requirements necessary for its improvement during the third and fourth years of medical school. It asserts that, coincident with the emphasis on faculty research and publication and expanded resident patient care duties, teaching, particularly medical student teaching, has assumed a very low priority. Third-year medical students are attached to surgical teams, where their education is haphazard and disorganized. Furthermore, because any teaching that occurs is teacher oriented rather than student centered, knowledge is accumulated passively and is not well retained. Traditional evaluation using shelf multiple choice examinations and ward ratings by residents and faculty may provide inaccurate assessments of the students' performance. The undergraduate surgical education program should be directed by a faculty member who has been grounded in educational techniques and research and supported by a department chairman committed to bettering the program. In the clerkship, medical students should be assigned to faculty rather than to services and should be presented problems that require solution. Students also should be provided with the resources to solve the problems and should be given sufficient time to solve them. Some operating room experience and bedside teaching should occur during the clerkship. A variety of evaluation and testing methods based on the learning objectives of the clerkship should be used. Third-year students should not be promoted until they have demonstrated their acquisition of appropriate knowledge and skills.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- A cognitive perspective on medical expertiseAcademic Medicine, 1990
- Should We Change the Medical School Curriculum?Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 1989
- The Paradigm of Medical Education—It Is Time for a ChangeMayo Clinic Proceedings, 1989
- Career change: In quest of a controllable lifestyleJournal of Surgical Research, 1989
- Once You Start Studying Medicine…Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 1989
- Surgical Clerk's Case Experience: A learning experience?Medical Teacher, 1988
- Medical education: A continuum in disarrayThe American Journal of Surgery, 1987
- Problem-based, self-directed learning.1983
- Determining the content of a surgical curriculum.1983
- Changes in the professional orientation of medical studentsAcademic Medicine, 1980