The use of a lightly preserved cadaver and full thickness pig skin to teach technical skills on the surgery clerkship - A response to the economic pressures facing academic medicine today

Background: In response to declining instruction in technical skills, the authors instituted a novel method to teach basic procedural skills to medical students beginning the surgery clerkship. Methods: Sixty-three medical students participated in a skills training laboratory. The first part of the laboratory taught basic suturing skills, and the second involved a cadaver with pig skin grafted to different anatomic locations. Clinical scenarios were simulated, and students performed essential procedural skills. Results: Students learned most of their suturing skills in the laboratory skills sessions, compared with the emergency room or the operating room (P = .01). Students reported that the laboratory allowed them greater opportunity to participate in the emergency room and operating room. Students also felt that the suture laboratory contributed greatly to their skills in wound closure. Finally, 90% of students had never received instruction on suturing, and only 12% had performed any procedural skills before beginning the surgery rotation. Conclusions: The laboratory described is an effective way of insuring that necessary technical skills are imparted during the surgery rotation.