ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Limited exposure to surgical subspecialties during medical school may be responsible for decreasing medical student interest in surgery. Although most medical schools have surgery interest groups to increase exposure, our aim was to evaluate the impact of a focused surgical subspecialty roundtable on preclerkship students' perceptions of surgical careers. METHODS: Faculty members from each surgical subspecialty shared their experiences and led roundtable discussions with five to seven first- and second-year medical students at a time (total n = 59). Pre-event and post-event surveys were administered to assess students' interest in surgery, knowledge of training paths, values related to specialty selection, and perception of surgeons. RESULTS: Forty students completed pre-event and post-event surveys. The number of students who were extremely or very interested in surgery increased after this event (65% versus 72.5%, P < 0.001). The greatest number of students indicated an interest in orthopedic surgery, and the fewest indicated an interest in neurosurgery. After the event, thirteen (32.5%) students changed their preferences for the subspecialty in which they were most interested. Students demonstrated improved knowledge of training length and integrated residencies (83.8% versus 96.3%, P = 0.003). The perceived importance of intellectual challenge, research opportunities, and training length decreased, whereas the importance of compensation, work/life balance, long-term patient follow-up, and the job market increased. Students' perceptions of surgeons' work/life balance (10% versus 25%, P < 0.001) and ability to be team players (82.5% versus 85%, P = 0.01) improved significantly after the roundtable. CONCLUSIONS: The surgical specialty roundtable increased students' interest in surgery, improved knowledge of training paths, and altered perceptions related to career decision-making.