Mapping the perceptions of trainees for promoting surgical competence at the Sharjah clinical training centre

OBJECTIVES: Despite the pressing need for a standard, worldwide surgical training program, there is a dearth of accredited surgical training centres that harmonize learning experiences. Following concerns about patient safety and the long learning curve in surgical training, the role of accredited surgical training centres is being emphasized. This research reports on the perceptions of surgical trainees at an accredited training centre in the UAE. METHODS: We used a questionnaire with 10 close-ended statements about demographic data and the quality of course contents in dry and wet labs as well as in theoretical training sessions. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted using SPSS software, and NVIVO was used to identify common themes. RESULTS: Of 2124 respondents who attended 934 courses, 1866 (87.6%) were men and 258 (12.1%) were women. Most respondents (1848; 87%) represented the Middle East, and 1093 (51.5%) of them worked in hospitals. Although most attendees were satisfied with the quality of the contents and materials used for surgical training, they were dissatisfied for ‘Would you prefer to have more surgical training by lectures, oral interactive sessions, or videos’? A significant number of respondents proposed more hands-on surgical training and did not like theoretical sessions (p ˂ 0.05). Furthermore, there were great variations in responses in terms of the participants' regional and workplace profiles. CONCLUSION: This study underlines the need for more hands-on surgical training. These findings urge educators to modify surgical training programs to embed more practical and hands-on surgical training.