Redesigning the surgical teaching of fourth-year medical students to meet the training needs of generalists.

The fourth year of the medical student curriculum remains of questionable educational value at most medical schools. The training needs of generalists include the acquisition of knowledge and skills in broad areas of general surgery and the surgical subspecialties. By appropriately tailoring the educational objectives to the learning needs of individual students and implementing teaching models based on principles of adult education, a special surgical experience may be provided to each fourth-year medical student, building on the previously acquired knowledge and skills. Rotations may be offered in a number of surgical disciplines, with heavy emphasis on teaching in the ambulatory setting. One such model was recently implemented at The Medical College of Pennsylvania. Advantages of this type of program include support of the training of generalists using contemporary teaching strategies and provision of a meaningful educational experience to medical students during the fourth year.