MEDICAL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE SURGICAL THEATER

Abstract

Objectives: To measure the perceptions of medical students on the learningenvironment in surgical theater of FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore, Pakistan.Study Design: Teaching hospital-based cross-sectional study. Setting: Fatima MemorialHospital College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore, Pakistan. Period: January 2017 to June2017. Methods: The Mini-Surgical Theater Educational Environment Measure (mini-STEEM)(thirteen items from the STEEM inventory) was used to measure perceptions of medicalstudents on the learning environment in surgical theater. Mini-STEEM was administered tomedical students of fourth and final year during their rotation in surgical theater at FMH Collegeof Medicine and Dentistry. Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20 was used for non-parametricstatistical analysis. Results: Questionnaire was filled by all 134 students, with a response rate of100%. The mini-STEEM was shown to be a reliable tool to measure overall learning environmentin the surgical theater of FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry. The overall mini-STEEM meanscore was 37.66 which was below the midpoint score (39). Students’ ratings were low for twosubscales, namely: ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Operating experience. Discrimination subscale showedhigh ratings as no significant differences of perceptions were found between male and femaleparticipants. Conclusion: The medical undergraduates perceived the educational environmentwithin the surgical theater of FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry below satisfactory. Resultsof the study implied that the environment required multiple measures for improvement in thesurgical theater to promote surgical education in undergraduate medical students.