Simulating the Surgical Patient Pathway for Undergraduates.

BACKGROUND: A changing National Health Service structure and a reduction in time available for teaching have led to the increasing tensions in both clinical and university settings, to deliver high-quality patient care, research, and teaching. This, coupled with the increasing emphasis placed on ensuring safe surgical practice, has resulted in a need for change in teaching methods. We have designed an innovative surgical teaching program that aims to overcome these difficulties, by providing undergraduate medical students with a simulated surgical patient pathway.

METHODS: This prospective study compared 2 independent groups of medical students during their first-year clinical attachments, with the study group receiving the newly implemented simulated surgical patient pathway compared against a control group receiving traditional surgical education programs.

RESULTS: Students in the study group demonstrated a significantly improved subjective experience of surgical teaching, with greater awareness and confidence of safe surgical principles. Additionally, these students receiving the newly implemented simulation pathway performed significantly better than the control group in an objective knowledge-based assessment.

DISCUSSION: Simulation is not a substitute to clinical experience and it should not be considered as a replacement to real patients; but when used carefully, it can be an effective and essential adjunct in bridging the gap between classroom medicine and clinical practice.