Wound Management Amongst Doctors in Training: A Cross-Sectional Study of Education and Capability

Abstract

Wound care in the UK is a resource-intensive challenge, costing the NHS £8.3 billion annually and growing with an ageing population. However, there is no evidence of whether doctors in training receive adequate teaching to perform wound care competently. Our study aimed to investigate doctors’ confidence when assessing and managing wounds and their preferred learning modality. This cross-sectional study comprised 262 doctors training across the UK. We assessed the correlation between confidence in managing wounds, seniority in training, and trainee speciality. Only 65% of doctors had received teaching on wound healing during medical school, and 25% received further teaching during postgraduate training. Surgical trainees felt more confident in assessing and managing wounds than their medical counterparts (p < 0.01), and surgeons were the only group demonstrating a positive correlation between seniority and confidence in wound management (p = 0.02). All speciality groups favoured bedside teaching and thought wound management was integral to clinical practice. Our study has shown that training is sub optimally delivered and insufficient for trainee requirements. Incorporating dedicated teaching across specialities will be essential to manage the increasing demand for wound care.