Enhancing Pre-clerkship Students' Readiness for Surgery: A Kern's Framework-Guided Workshop.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2025

Publication Title

The Journal of surgical research

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The transition from preclinical years to surgical clerkship is challenging, as traditional curricula emphasize didactic learning over technical and interpersonal skills. We developed a novel, structured workshop based on Kern's Six-Step Guide to Curriculum Design to enhance medical learners' clerkship readiness.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Conducted in 2023 and 2024 at a single Canadian institution, the workshop featured five stations: Introduction to the OR, The Surgical Ward, The Surgical Consult, Technical Skills, and Thriving in Surgical Clerkship. A multidisciplinary team of surgeons, trainees, nurses, and a clinical clerk facilitated clinical vignettes, small-group discussions, and operative simulations. Learners' confidence and knowledge were assessed through pre- and postworkshop questionnaires, and suturing skills were evaluated using a validated tool. Comparative analyses were performed using Paired T-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.

RESULTS: Fifty-nine (95.2%) medical students were included in the analysis after removing incomplete responses. Forty-one students (69.0%) had little (less than five times) or no exposure to an OR in the last year. Learners' overall median confidence improved significantly post-workshop [2.0 (IQR: 2.1-3.2) versus 6.4 (IQR: 6.3-6.8) P = 0.005], as did their suturing skills (11 ± 4.8 versus 23 ± 2.4, P < 0.0001). Fifty-one learners (86.4%) agreed that the workshop decreased their anxiety around clerkship. All agreed that the workshop should be offered again.

CONCLUSIONS: Our workshop effectively addressed gaps in surgical education by applying Kern's framework, near-peer teaching, and simulation-based learning. The curriculum combined theoretical knowledge and clinical skills, thereby significantly improving clerkship preparedness and serves as a scalable model for surgical education.

Volume

313

First Page

479

Last Page

487

DOI

10.1016/j.jss.2025.06.057

ISSN

1095-8673

PubMed ID

40706226

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