“I wish they knew….” Demystifying expectations on the surgical clerkship and setting students up for success

Objective

Understand the perspectives of interprofessional surgical educators on how to address the sources of student-reported challenges in the surgical learning environment to generate recommendations for student success.

Design

Qualitative study using individual in depth interviews and qualitative description.

Setting

A single School of Medicine with training sites encompassing urban, rural, academic and community settings across a five-state region.

Participants

Twenty-three interprofessional surgical educators from across a large academic medical center and affiliated sites.

Results

Educators described the value of preparation, engagement, and situational awareness in students. They acknowledged that the surgical clerkship is often students’ first exposure to the operating theater and the way students can integrate into teams in surgical care may be different than the roles they hold in other medical teams. Educators described tensions between education and patient care responsibilities and described opportunities for change at the team, clerkship, and institutional levels.

Conclusions

A standardized set of clear expectations and defined roles and responsibilities for students may help address common challenges for students in the surgical clerkship. Educators in surgical teams are part of a multi-layer structure influenced by the larger health care system, clerkship leadership, and institutional values and goals. Efforts to address challenges faced by students in the clerkship should take each of these layers into account in planning and implementation.