We asked them and they told us: victims' views of the first surgical clerkship - abstract

ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken to obtain the views of the students concerning the effectiveness of the first clerkship in surgery. A short anonymous questionnaire was handed to each student at the end of their ten-week clerkship immediately following the multiple choice examination. Completed forms were collected before the students left the examination room. Four hundred and sixty-three questionnaires were returned and analysed from the five graduating classes 1988 - 1992. Three hundred and forty of these responded to the section asking for comments or criticisms of the clerkship. These were broken down into five main areas - organisation, evaluation, course content, teaching and teachers. While the majority of the students felt that the clerkship was well organised, three main areas of discontent were evident. It was felt that teaching should be more patient-oriented, that teachers were too frequently unavailable and that the present curriculum clash with the pathology/microbiology programme adversely affected the rotation. In addition, almost a quarter felt that time spent in the operating theatre was a poor learning experience. Based on the results presented to the lecturers in the department, the clerkship has been modified and a new questionnaire designed and administered. The new data are being stored in a computer database and being made available to the organisers of the clerkship on an on-going basis (AU)