Addressing Medical Students' Negative Perceptions of Surgical Training.

Authors

Sophia Dittrich, Parnika Telagi, Robert Treat, Andrew Kastenmeier, Sophie Dream

Published in

Journal of surgical education. Pages 103740. Oct 18, 2025. Epub Oct 18, 2025.

Abstract

To combat students' perceived barriers of surgery, studies have mainly focused on offering electives and one-on-one mentorship. Our objective is to determine medical students' perceived barriers to pursuing surgery and determine if a Question and Answer (Q&A) event will increase students' interest in surgical specialties.
A prepanel survey was distributed among first- and second-year medical students that asked questions related to student perceived barriers about surgery. A 60-minute Q&A panel event with 3 attendings and 2 residents from multiple surgery specialties was then held that addressed these barriers on the survey based on personal experiences. Following the panel, the same survey was distributed to both attendees and non-attendees.
Private Medical College in the Midwest.
All first- and second-year medical students were eligible to complete the pre- and postpanel surveys.
This study categorized survey responses into 3 groups (prepanel, post-attended panel, and post-did not attend panel survey) and found significant decreases, using the Holm-Bonferroni method, in 8 of 14 perceived barriers to a surgical career among panel attendees. These included concerns regarding poor work-life balance, difficulty maintaining a family life, malignant culture, unpredictable schedules, and long working hours. Panel attendees also demonstrated increased interest in pursuing a surgical career and greater ability to envision themselves as surgical residents or attendings.
A brief student-organized panel with surgical attendings and residents can dispel many negative perceptions about surgery and increase surgical interest early on in medical school.

PMID:
41111008
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 20 Oct 2025.

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