97 Evaluating the impact of virtual collaborative teaching methods on educating and increasing interest in general surgery in medical students

Abstract

Abstract Aim This study investigated the effectiveness of a multi-collaboration (OSCEazy, NSTS, INCISION UK, NANSIG, WEDNS, BIMA, BURST Urology) General Surgical teaching session, in evaluating the educational impact of large-scale collaborative virtual teaching and increasing student’s interest in pursuing a surgical career. Method The General Surgery sessions were held virtually in early 2021, with participants voluntarily completing a post-session feedback form. A 10-point Likert scale (1- Strongly Disagree, 10- Strongly Agree) was used to collect student responses based on various domains. Confidence, knowledge, interest/commitment, and worries/concerns with regards to General Surgical content was surveyed. Furthermore, perceptions of General Surgery as a doable career and availability of research opportunities. In addition, final questions included the effects of collaborative events (added value, impact of attendance). A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted, and median values were reported. Results We received 72 responses from the General Surgery Part 2 session. Results showed an increase in confidence (median: 9, SD: 1.576), knowledge (median: 9, SD: 1.172), interest/commitment (median: 8, SD: 2.106) and decreased worries/concerns (median: 8, SD: 1.771). Positive results were seen for General Surgery as a doable career (median: 8, SD: 2.197) and research availability (median:8, SD: 1.986). In terms of the collaboration, results showed an increased teaching value (median: 9, SD: 1.610) and attendance (median: 9, SD: 1.985). Conclusions The results demonstrate that online collaborative courses influence the knowledge and inspiration of students pursuing surgical specialties. In addition, large-scale collaborations increase the added value of the event and increases outreach in medical students.