267 Improving the Surgical Teaching Opportunities: A QI Project to Deliver a Course at a Local Hospital Level During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Aim During the COVID-19 pandemic, the training opportunities were markedly disrupted particularly, the surgical teaching which usually requires face to face teaching to help the acquisition of procedural skills. We implemented a QI project in a district hospital to improve the training opportunities for medical students & foundation doctors. The project was a face-to-face free course for teaching generic procedural and clinical skills in surgery. Method The course was a mixture of two well-known surgical courses in the UK, Basic Surgical Skills and the CCrISP courses. It included clinical and procedural skills sessions on models which simulated the basic wound closure techniques and types of knots, as well as skin lesion excision training. The course was delivered to medical students, foundation year one & two doctors and core surgical trainees. The improvement achieved by the course was measured by a questionnaire assessing the level of confidence between the candidates before and after each session. The questionnaire’s answers were categorised into (not confident, neutral, confident & very confident). The course was delivered on two occasions. Results The qualitative analysis of the results on two different occasions showed a considerable improvement in the level of confidence between the candidates. They were able to demonstrate engagement throughout the course especially with the procedural skills sessions. Conclusions Formulating a course at a local hospital level was an efficient alternative for maximising the training opportunities reduced during the pandemic. It was an impressive opportunity for newly graduated doctors and medical students having any surgical placement.