Medical Student Preparation for Surgery: Students’ Usage of Educational Resources in the Digital Age

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Medical students today have access to myriad information sources, of varying quality and reliability. We hypothesized that students commonly use non-peer-reviewed online resources to prepare for surgical cases. METHODS: From September to December 2021, a cross-sectional survey of students who had completed their surgery clerkships was administered at three medical schools. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to identify factors associated with use of non-peer-reviewed resources. RESULTS: A majority (74%) of the 122 respondents spent <1 hour/day studying for surgical cases; 42% and 43% of students devoted most of their study time to reviewing anatomy and operative steps, respectively. The most used study resources were YouTube (29%), high-yield review books (29%) and digital textbooks (21%). Eighty-four percent of students used non-peer-reviewed sources, including Wikipedia, YouTube, Google images and podcasts, at least sometimes; 30% used a non-peer-reviewed source as their primary study material. Students who spent ≤1 hour/day on case preparation were more likely to use a non-peer-reviewed source as their primary study resource (OR 3.3 95% CI: 1.1-9.7), than those who spent >1 hour/day. Ninety-eight percent of students reported knowing what constitutes a peer-reviewed source, and 86% believe that Wikipedia is not a peer-reviewed source. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that medical students do not prioritize peer-reviewed resources when selecting study materials. Furthermore, the accessibility of non-peer-reviewed resources may be attractive to students who prioritize efficiency. Surgical educators should focus on identifying high-quality online resources and educating medical students on how to interpret the reliability of available information.Figure