Evaluation and improvement of the surgical skillslab.

Abstract

The anxiety levels in students are higher during surgical education compared during non-surgical education. Pre-surgical courses in a surgical skillslab will reduce these levels before performing any operations. A surgical skillslab will give medical students the opportunity to practice several surgical skills on simulations of patients before performing them in real life. Therefore, the need to have a good and useful skillslab at a faculty has grown. The current surgical skillslab at the department of companion animals at the Veterinary Medicine faculty in Utrecht was developed more than 5 years ago and has been running since. Students were asked to complete a specific questionnaire before the start of the skillslab courses and another questionnaire after completion of the skillslab courses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the skillslab and improve where needed. The 121 students returned 204 questionnaires; 59% of the questionnaires before and 41% of the questionnaires after the training sessions. A surgical skillslab is of added value to a Veterinary Faculty because it will give veterinary students the opportunity to practice their surgical techniques. However, the current skillslab was perceived as disappointing on several aspects. Only 57% of participants thought it was a good preparation for their surgical clerkships and the average rating of the skillslab was a 6,4 out of 10 (the median was 7 out of 10). Because a surgical skillslab is intended as an added value to a Veterinary Faculty, a lot can be gained by improving and professionalizing the skillslab for the veterinary students.