Division of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Division of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
J Surg Res. 2023 Mar;283:872-878. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2022.11.013. Epub 2022 Dec 7.
Transitioning from medical student to surgical intern is accompanied by increased responsibility, stress, and clinical burden. This environment lends itself to imposter syndrome (IS), a psychological condition grounded in self-doubt causing fear of being discovered as fraud despite adequate abilities. We hypothesized a 2-week surgical boot camp for fourth year medical students would improve confidence in technical skills/knowledge and IS.
Thirty medical students matching into surgical specialties completed the boot-camp in February 2020. Presurveys/postsurveys assessed confidence levels using a 1-5 Likert scale regarding 32 technical skills and knowledge points. The Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) assessed IS, where increasing scores correlate to greater IS.
Median (interquartile range [IQR]) subject age was 27 y (26, 28), 20 (66.7%) were male, and 21 (70%) were Caucasian. Of the 30 students, 23 (76.7%) had a break in training with a median [IQR] of 2 [1, 3] y outside of medicine. Confidence scores were significantly improved in all five assessment categories (P < 0.05); however, there was no change in CIPS in median [IQR] presurveys versus postsurveys (65.5 [52, 75] versus 64 [52, 75], P = 0.70). Females had higher mean (standard deviation) pre-CIPS than males (68.4 [15.2] versus 61.6 [14.9], P = 0.02). There was no strong correlation between age and CIPS in the presurvey (Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient [SRCC]: 0.29, P = 0.19) or postsurvey (SRCC: 0.31, P = 0.10). While subjects who worked outside of medicine had a stronger relationship with IS (SRCC: 0.37, P = 0.05), multivariable regression analysis did not reveal any significant differences.
We advocate for surgical boot-camp training courses to improve trainee skill and confidence. As IS is not improved by boot camp, additional research is needed to identify opportunities to improve IS among surgical trainees.
从医学生过渡到外科实习医生伴随着责任、压力和临床负担的增加。这种环境容易导致冒名顶替综合征（IS），这是一种基于自我怀疑的心理状态，导致人们担心自己被发现是骗子，尽管他们有足够的能力。我们假设为四年级医学生提供为期两周的外科强化训练营将提高他们在技术技能/知识方面的信心和冒名顶替综合征。
30 名即将进入外科专业的医学生在 2020 年 2 月完成了强化训练营。在预调查/后调查中，使用 1-5 级 Likert 量表评估 32 项技术技能和知识要点的信心水平。Clance 冒名顶替综合征量表（CIPS）评估冒名顶替综合征，得分越高表明冒名顶替综合征越严重。
受试者的平均（四分位距 [IQR]）年龄为 27 岁（26、28），20 名（66.7%）为男性，21 名（70%）为白人。在 30 名学生中，23 名（76.7%）中断了培训，其中 2 名（IQR）在医学之外中断了中位数[IQR]2 年。所有五个评估类别的信心评分均显著提高（P < 0.05）；然而，CIPS 的中位数 [IQR] 预调查与后调查没有变化（65.5 [52、75] 与 64 [52、75]，P = 0.70）。女性的 CIPS 预调查平均（标准差）高于男性（68.4 [15.2] 与 61.6 [14.9]，P = 0.02）。在预调查（Spearman 秩相关系数 [SRCC]：0.29，P = 0.19）或后调查（SRCC：0.31，P = 0.10）中，年龄与 CIPS 之间没有很强的相关性。虽然在医学之外工作的受试者与 IS 的关系更强（SRCC：0.37，P = 0.05），但多变量回归分析并未发现任何显著差异。
我们提倡进行外科强化训练营培训，以提高学员的技能和信心。由于强化训练营并不能改善冒名顶替综合征，因此需要进一步研究以确定提高外科学员冒名顶替综合征的机会。
