Scrub Club: A Medical Student‐Led Initiative That Uses Experiential Learning Opportunities in the Cadaver Laboratory to Introduce Pre‐Clerkship Medical Students to Surgery

Abstract

IntroductionMost medical students have very little exposure to surgical specialties in their pre‐clerkship years, especially when compared to non‐surgical specialities; and bring very little knowledge of surgical skills to their surgical clerkship rotations. Second‐year medical students (Meds2022) at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Campus recognized this lack of early exposure to surgery as a potential barrier to their learning. Additionally, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Campus is a distributed medical campus (DMC). DMCs often have less engagement from surgeons compared to larger academic centres, making learning directly from a surgical mentor more challenging. In an attempt to address these student‐perceived gaps in their curriculum, a surgery interest group made up of Meds2022 students instituted an innovative club – the Scrub Club. Teaching models for early exposure to surgery have been previously implemented at other campuses, however none have been completely student‐directed or as multifaceted as the Scrub Club at a DMC.AimThe aim of Scrub Club is to develop experiential learning opportunities that will help introduce pre‐clerkship medical students to surgery using the on‐site cadaver laboratory.MethodsScrub Club members encouraged the development of surgical skills and knowledge amongst themselves, as well as their peers, by hosting regular experiential learning sessions in the cadaver laboratory. Experiential sessions included student‐led demonstrations on surgical anatomy, suturing, and knot tying using cadavers. Community surgeons were also brought in by Scrub Club members to lead simulated surgeries on cadavers.ResultsSince September 2019, the club has hosted two anatomy information sessions, one suturing session, and two simulated surgeries on cadavers. Simulated surgeries included an appendectomy, a prostatectomy, a nephrectomy, a bowel resection, and a splenectomy. During the physician‐led surgery simulations, each student was given an opportunity to assist, and to employ the skills/knowledge that they had acquired from previous sessions taught by their peers. Verbal feedback given by club members, as well as other medical student attendees, indicated that the sessions had a positive impact; and at least two students cited Scrub Club as the reason they felt comfortable performing suturing during observerships. Additionally, Scrub Club members felt that they were better able to demonstrate competencies important to the medical profession, such as leadership, collaboration, and communication, during these teaching sessions.Discussion and ConclusionThe members of Scrub Club were successfully able to develop and implement a variety of experiential learning opportunities using the cadaver laboratory at Windsor Campus. These opportunities have the potential to increase the level of engagement of pre‐clerkship students in surgical specialities, and to establish a basic surgical skillset that can be expanded upon in clerkship. The medical competencies developed were the unintentional benefits of the club.