Medical student and faculty perceptions of undergraduate surgical training: A comparison between South Africa and Sweden
type: CreativeWork
description: INTRODUCTION: There is a paucity of literature comparing the views and perceptions of medical students and surgical faculty regarding the surgical curriculum. Additionally, little evidence is available illustrating the prevalence of surgical mentors and role models, as well astheirspecific characteristics. Comparing the learning climates and current state of mentorship during undergraduate surgical training between developing and developed countries may offer insight into curricular improvement, and may shed light on methods to improve and stimulate surgical interest amongst medical students globally. METHODOLOGY: An electronic, online questionnaire was anonymously distributed to medical students and surgical faculty at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. The questionnaire explored the perceptions of medical students and surgical faculty regarding the current undergraduate surgical curriculum, existing clinical and theoretical instructional methods, as well as mentorship and role models within the surgical discipline. RESULTS: A total of 120 students (response rate of 24.4%) and 41 faculty (response rate of 74.5%) responded. Compared to South African faculty, Swedish faculty were predominantly male and were significantly older (p=0.009). Medical students desired more hours of instruction compared to faculty (p=0.017). South African students expected to study more hours compared to Swedish students (p=0.029). There was general agreement that ‘small-group tutorials’ was the area students learn the most from, whereas students reported ‘lectures’ least helpful. Registrars were reported as the first person students should consult regarding patient care. A large proportion (42.5%) of medical students believed that faculty viewed students as an inconvenience, and 35.0% of students believed that faculty would rather not have students on the clinical team. Faculty believed the current surgical curriculum was less adequate compared to…
abstract: INTRODUCTION: There is a paucity of literature comparing the views and perceptions of medical students and surgical faculty regarding the surgical curriculum. Additionally, little evidence is available illustrating the prevalence of surgical mentors and role models, as well astheirspecific characteristics. Comparing the learning climates and current state of mentorship during undergraduate surgical training between developing and developed countries may offer insight into curricular improvement, and may shed light on methods to improve and stimulate surgical interest amongst medical students globally. METHODOLOGY: An electronic, online questionnaire was anonymously distributed to medical students and surgical faculty at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. The questionnaire explored the perceptions of medical students and surgical faculty regarding the current undergraduate surgical curriculum, existing clinical and theoretical instructional methods, as well as mentorship and role models within the surgical discipline. RESULTS: A total of 120 students (response rate of 24.4%) and 41 faculty (response rate of 74.5%) responded. Compared to South African faculty, Swedish faculty were predominantly male and were significantly older (p=0.009). Medical students desired more hours of instruction compared to faculty (p=0.017). South African students expected to study more hours compared to Swedish students (p=0.029). There was general agreement that ‘small-group tutorials’ was the area students learn the most from, whereas students reported ‘lectures’ least helpful. Registrars were reported as the first person students should consult regarding patient care. A large proportion (42.5%) of medical students believed that faculty viewed students as an inconvenience, and 35.0% of students believed that faculty would rather not have students on the clinical team. Faculty believed the current surgical curriculum was less adequate compared to…
author: Scott, Alex J.
date published: 2019
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:34:03Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Surgery

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30809