Posters

Assessing the influence of an innovative undergraduate cataract surgery training course on student perception of careers in surgery and ophthalmology

Poster Details

First Author: F.Papadopoulos UK

Co Author(s): D. Wheeler   M. Malik   D. Patel   M. Arunakirinathan   R. Petrarca        

Abstract Details

Purpose:

After having conducted an initial cross-sectional analysis of current UK medical student perceptions on the integration of surgical and microsurgical skills teaching in their medical school curriculum, we identified a lack of surgical skills training opportunities and an expressed desire for greater integration of such teaching in curricula. This led us to design and deliver an innovative microsurgical skills training course, focused on cataract surgery and general microsurgical skills, aiming to qualitatively validate our course and its influence on student perceptions of careers in surgery and ophthalmology.

Setting:

Initial data collection on students’ views was performed through online forms distributed across social media to different university groups across the UK. The final course was constructed with the help of ophthalmic registrars and consultants and was delivered in a setting with both wet and dry lab facilities.

Methods:

Initial survey of UK medical students assessed interest in surgery and ophthalmology, as well as surgical training exposure. The course we developed consisted of lectures on cataract surgery essentials, a cataract surgery wet lab, Eyesi simulation, intraocular lens implantation and microsurgical suturing. We delivered the cataract course to 16 students, whose surgical experience was stratified into: No experience (NE), Basic Surgical Training (BST), Microsurgical training (MST).  We administered pre- and post-course questionnaires to all delegates to compare responses with the survey population, measure change in confidence levels in performing microsurgical techniques and gather feedback on the design of our course.

Results:

We had 119 survey respondents. The mean response to if practical training would influence career aspirations was 4.13±0.92 and to current curriculum integration of surgical practical skills was 1.75±1.01. The course delegates responded similarly (4.75±0.45 and 1.63±1.09 respectively) and were stratified as 18.8% NE, 25% MST, 56.3% BST. Post-course questionnaires demonstrated statistically significant increase in confidence describing phacoemulsification steps from 1.75±1.13 to 4.44±0.63 (p<0.0001), and confidence performing basic microsurgical techniques from 2.31±1.14 to 3.88±0.62 (p<0.0001). Thematic analysis of feedback highlighted the most important course aspects: Wet lab (100% mentioned), Eyesi Simulator (75% mentioned), Microsuturing (37.5% mentioned), Expert Guidance (31.3% mentioned).

Conclusions:

Survey and course questionnaire responses reflected the poor integration of surgical and microsurgical training in UK medical curricula. Our course design was validated using subjective confidence scales and content validity was achieved through positive delegate feedback received on the usefulness of each training modality employed in our course. Overall, participants rated our course at 4.94±0.25 and we found a statistically significant difference between post-course and pre-course likelihood of choosing a career in surgery (4.63±0.62 vs. 3.94±0.93, p = 0.02). We therefore propose greater adoption of such novel undergraduate surgical training initiatives to stimulate and retain interest in surgery and ophthalmology.

Financial Disclosure:

None