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

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.