Introduction: The objective of this study was assessment of the course, quality and accomplishment of 4th year surgical curriculum in Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin (in Poland) for the academic year 2016/2017.
Materials and methods: A questionnaire-survey was carried out in a group of 97 Polish students in the 5th year of the Medical Faculty just before the seminar-block of surgery. Main topics of the questionnaire items concerned students’ opinion on the expected usefulness of the acquired surgical knowledge for future medical practice, acquired manual skills, classes conducted in the operative theatre and overall organization of classes.
Results: Knowledge from general surgery was scored by students the highest as potentially most useful for future medical practice. Assisting in operations and learning manual skills (mostly inserting stitches on a pig trotter) was considered the most valuable portion of surgical curriculum. These skills were also believed to be the closest to the meaning of the term “skill/competency-oriented teaching” surgery. Theatre classes were considered valuable only for students assisting in operations, but for most of the passive observers it was a waste of time. Less than a half the students took history and examined patients with common urological and surgical disorders. Most (96%) responders considered an inadequate amount of time assigned for manual skills and ward-round teaching the greatest drawback of the 4th year surgical curriculum.
Conclusions: Outcomes of this study showed the students’ expectations in surgery lessons in 4th year of university curriculum and what a grade of its performance was. Awareness of this may have an effect on modification of the curriculum and methods of undergraduate teaching surgery.
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