TY - JOUR
T1 - Does a general surgery clerkship influence student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers?
AU - Cochran, Amalia
AU - Paukert, Judy L.
AU - Neumayer, Leigh A.
PY - 2003/8/1
Y1 - 2003/8/1
N2 - Background. Student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers may influence their decision to pursue a surgical career. We evaluated the impact of a general surgery clerkship on medical student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers and of the clerkship on student interest in surgical careers. Methods. We conducted voluntary pre- and postclerkship surveys of third-year medical students who were enrolled in their required general surgery clerkship and used 5-point Likert scale rankings to capture agreement with declarative statements (1 = strongly agree; 5 = strongly disagree). T-tests were used to evaluate both paired and individual items. Results. Students indicated that their surgical clerkship improved their opinion of surgeons (2.47; P < .001). Several perceptions changed after the clerkship. First, students agreed more strongly that surgeons were compassionate physicians (ranking, 2.87 vs 2.53; P = .003) and that patients respected surgeons (ranking, 1.84 vs 1.62; P = .026). Acknowledgment of career satisfaction by students increased (ranking, 2.57 vs 2.22; P = .008). Students more strongly disagreed that "surgeons [were] respectful of other physicians" (ranking, 3.29 vs 3.62; P = .009). Interest in surgical careers did not change significantly during the clerkship (ranking, 2.83 vs 2.68; P = .218). Conclusion. Medical student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers generally improve during the surgical clerkship. However, student impressions of surgeons' collegial behavior and commitment to teaching deteriorate significantly during the surgical clerkship.
AB - Background. Student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers may influence their decision to pursue a surgical career. We evaluated the impact of a general surgery clerkship on medical student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers and of the clerkship on student interest in surgical careers. Methods. We conducted voluntary pre- and postclerkship surveys of third-year medical students who were enrolled in their required general surgery clerkship and used 5-point Likert scale rankings to capture agreement with declarative statements (1 = strongly agree; 5 = strongly disagree). T-tests were used to evaluate both paired and individual items. Results. Students indicated that their surgical clerkship improved their opinion of surgeons (2.47; P < .001). Several perceptions changed after the clerkship. First, students agreed more strongly that surgeons were compassionate physicians (ranking, 2.87 vs 2.53; P = .003) and that patients respected surgeons (ranking, 1.84 vs 1.62; P = .026). Acknowledgment of career satisfaction by students increased (ranking, 2.57 vs 2.22; P = .008). Students more strongly disagreed that "surgeons [were] respectful of other physicians" (ranking, 3.29 vs 3.62; P = .009). Interest in surgical careers did not change significantly during the clerkship (ranking, 2.83 vs 2.68; P = .218). Conclusion. Medical student perceptions of surgeons and surgical careers generally improve during the surgical clerkship. However, student impressions of surgeons' collegial behavior and commitment to teaching deteriorate significantly during the surgical clerkship.
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U2 - 10.1067/msy.2003.216
DO - 10.1067/msy.2003.216
M3 - Article
C2 - 12947312
AN - SCOPUS:0041827144
SN - 0039-6060
VL - 134
SP - 153
EP - 157
JO - Surgery
JF - Surgery
IS - 2
ER -