The use of a surgical boot camp combining anatomical education and surgical simulation for internship preparedness among senior medical students

BACKGROUND: Senior medical students feel unprepared for surgical procedures and care for surgery patients when they begin their internship. This study sought to introduce and evaluate a surgical boot camp training for senior medical students. METHODS: A 44-h surgical boot camp program of lectures on clinical practice simulation, anatomical dissections, and simulated operation on cadavers was designed, implemented, and evaluated during the 2018 to 2019 academic year. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess students’ perceptions of the content, delivery, and self-confidence. The mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (mini-CEX) and the Operative Performance Rating System were used to assess skills essential to good clinical care and to facilitate feedback. RESULTS: Over 93% of the students were satisfied with the surgical boot camp, training equipment, and learning materials provided. After six sessions of training, 85.3% reported gaining self-confidence and performed better in some surgical procedures such as major gastrectomy. The mini-CEX scores suggested significant improvement in the students’ clinical skills, attitudes, and behaviors (P < 0.01). Ninety-eight percent of students felt that the anatomical knowledge taught met their needs. The scores of the Operative Performance Rating System suggested that the students’ surgical skills such as instruments handling, incising, treatment of surrounding tissues (blood vessels, nerves), and smoothness of the whole operation had increased significantly following the surgical boot camp (All P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The surgical boot camp curriculum improved students’ satisfaction and confidence in core clinical practice competencies. Therefore, medical schools the world over should continue to seek ways to bridge the gaps between pre-clinical, clinical, and internship training. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-022-03536-y.