Impact of the surgery clerkship on medical students’ situational interest in surgery

Purpose Situational interest (SI) is influenced by features in the learning environment. Triggered SI (TSI) refers to initiating interest and maintained SI (MSI) is a deeper form of interest with meaningful connections to course content. This study set out to determine if third-year surgery clerkship experiences influence students’ situational interest in surgery, and if so, what aspects are most influential. Methods Our institution’s 8-week surgery clerkship requires 2 weeks of surgical oncology and 2 weeks of surgical sub-specialty electives, as well as one week of acute care surgery, elective general surgery, surgical intensive care, and night float. Surveys were distributed at the beginning (T1), middle (T2), and end of the clerkship (T3). The surveys included a validated interest questionnaire adapted from Linnenbrink-Garcia et al. to gauge students’ MSI and TSI toward the operating room (OR), simulations (SIM), and lectures (LEC). Paired-samples t -tests were calculated to generalize differences in MSI, TSI, and mentorship across the clerkship. Pearson correlations were estimated to examine associations between students’ MSI and TSI with the number of times they performed surgical tasks during the clerkship, as well as perceptions about gross anatomy and pre-clerkship shadowing. Results Eighty-two participants successfully completed all three surveys. MSI was high to begin with and remained high throughout the clerkship. TSI toward the OR ( t (79) = 3.298, p < .001, d = . 369), SIM ( t (80) = 5.315, p < .001, d = . 591), and LEC ( t (79) = 9.104, p < .001, d = 1.018) increased from T1 to T2 with no change from T2 and T3. Suturing, stapling, first assisting, operating laparoscopic cameras, pre-clerkship shadowing, perceptions about gross anatomy, and mentorship were all positively correlated with increased SI. Conclusions OR, SIM, and LEC experiences during our institution’s third-year surgery clerkship triggered students’ SI in surgery. MSI in surgery is high at the start of the clerkship and remains high throughout. Mentorship, pre-clerkship shadowing, perceptions about gross anatomy, and hands-on learning are important factors correlating with interest in surgery.