388 The SIMple Things: Using Surgical Simulation to Improve Junior and Undergraduate Surgical Teaching in a Rural DGH

Abstract

Abstract Aim Many clinical activities remain cancelled or uncertain in the COVID world. We established a Surgical Skills Club in our rural DGH, where students and juniors are rotated far from their home institution. We also aimed to improve our undergraduate teaching by incorporating new surgical Sim sessions. Method We established a weekly Surgical Skills Club by trainees, and promoted this through MedEd to all juniors, students and ANPs. We used a combination of higher-fidelity models owned by the hospital and low fidelity models designed by ourselves such as lap-appendix and hernia. We utilised social media to share ideas. We recorded attendance and sought written feedback. We also set up dedicated simulation sessions as part of ongoing undergraduate teaching. Results Anonymous feedback was documented weekly via app/online. For skills club, 100% of attendees documented experience as “great” or “good” (options great, good, average, fair, poor). Attendance varied from 2–15 each week. The best attendance was a formalised session with consultant input. For undergraduate Sim, 100% of attendees rated experience “great” or “good”. All attendees agreed Sim teaching improved their experience of surgery. 20% stated it made them consider a career in surgery. Conclusions Surgical simulation is an excellent tool for improving experience of general surgery especially in a COVID environment and can widen access to surgical training by allowing juniors to explore their skills in a controlled, informal environment. Lap Skills gave students real-world confidence. A combination of low fidelity models provided the best experience showing that the barrier of cost can be broken.