FP5.7 - Why I don’t want a career in surgery? - Uncovering obstacles and investigating barriers among year 3 UK medical students: A thematic analysis

Abstract

Abstract Aims Surgical training and placements can be stereotyped negatively by medical students. Our study aimed to identify barriers to pursuing a surgical career amongst UK year 3 medical students, to improve surgical educational policies. Methods An optional, anonymous, single-question, open-text survey was administered to 190, year 3 UK medical student, after they had completed an 11 week surgical clinical placement, comprising Breast, Emergency Department, Interventional Radiology, Orthopaedics, Peri-op anaesthetics, Plastics, Vascular, Upper/Lower GI and Urology. The specific question asked was, 'Would you contemplate pursuing a career in surgery?' Responses from students NOT considering a surgical career were analysed qualitatively using a thematic approach to identify perceived barriers to a surgical career. Results 102 responses were received of which 35 were not suitable for analysis. Of the remaining 67 students, 30 (44.8%) demonstrated a negative view towards a surgical career. Following thematic analysis four main themes were identified:Pre-existing interest in another specialty.Nature of surgical training (long duration, competitive, poor work-life balance).Stressful clinical workload, high emotional pressure and burnout.Negative, masculine culture within surgical teams. Positively, despite not planning to pursue surgery - some students reported surgery was not as intimidating as they had expected it to be and surgeons did not meet stereotypes they were expecting. Conclusions Medical students continue to comment on negative surgical working environment experiences. Our study highlights areas that high pressure surgical training placements, need to actively improve in order to ensure a positive working and teaching surgical environment for our future medical workforce.