Lawton Joshua, Wentzel Dylan, Root Cooper, Patel Meeli, Baker Jordan, Kilgore Lyndsey
The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Wichita, Kansas.
The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Kansas City, Kansas City, Kansas.
Kans J Med. 2025 Aug 15;18(4):78-82. doi: 10.17161/kjm.vol18.23769. eCollection 2025 Jul-Aug.
Mentorship is important in medical education, yet its specific impact on pre-clerkship medical students interested in surgery remains underexplored. We hypothesized that a formal but unstructured surgical mentorship program would increase students' interest in surgery and improve their self-perceived readiness for the third-year surgical clerkship.
In this before-after study, pre-clerkship students at The University of Kansas School of Medicine were paired with volunteer surgical faculty mentors. An initial one-on-one meeting was required, while the frequency and structure of subsequent meetings were left to the participants. Surveys assessing student confidence and perceptions of the program were administered via Research Electronic Data Capture® (REDCap®) before the program and again six months later. Changes were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test for independent groups (p <0.05).
Of the 47 students enrolled, 31 (66.0%) completed the preprogram survey, and 24 (51.1%) of these completed the post-program survey. After six months, students reported significantly greater confidence in their preparation and knowledge for the third-year surgical clerkship, surgical skills, and understanding of surgical career pathways. More students also identified potential residency letter writers. However, 87.5% of respondents reported inconsistent mentor-mentee meetings.
A formal yet unstructured surgical mentorship program significantly improved pre-clerkship students' confidence in pursuing a surgical career and preparing for the surgical clerkship. Despite inconsistent meeting frequency, the program enabled meaningful mentorship without requiring rigid scheduling or extensive time commitments from participants.
导师指导在医学教育中很重要，但对于对手术感兴趣的临床前医学生的具体影响仍未得到充分探索。我们假设一个正式但无结构化的外科导师指导项目会增加学生对手术的兴趣，并提高他们对三年级外科实习的自我认知准备程度。
在这项前后对照研究中，堪萨斯大学医学院的临床前学生与志愿外科教员导师配对。要求进行一次初始的一对一会议，而后续会议的频率和结构则由参与者自行决定。通过研究电子数据采集（REDCap®）在项目开始前和六个月后进行调查，评估学生对该项目的信心和看法。使用独立组的Wilcoxon秩和检验分析变化（p<0.05）。
在47名注册学生中，31名（66.0%）完成了项目前调查，其中24名（51.1%）完成了项目后调查。六个月后，学生们报告说，他们对三年级外科实习的准备和知识、手术技能以及对外科职业道路的理解有了显著更高的信心。更多学生还确定了潜在的住院医师推荐信撰写人。然而，87.5%的受访者报告导师与学生的会议不一致。
一个正式但无结构化的外科导师指导项目显著提高了临床前学生追求外科职业生涯和为外科实习做准备的信心。尽管会议频率不一致，但该项目实现了有意义的指导，而无需严格的日程安排或参与者投入大量时间。
