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A Study on Pre-clinical Anaesthesia Elective in Shaping Medical Students' Knowledge and Career Perspectives

Received: 24 February 2024    Accepted: 7 March 2024    Published: 19 March 2024
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Abstract

Anesthesiology stands out as one of the rapidly growing and highly competitive medical specialties, necessitating students to cultivate an interest in anesthesia early and prepare extensively for clinical electives. Pre-clinical electives that introduce students to anesthesia and ready them for clinical settings in the early stages of their academic journey may confer benefits and enhance their competitiveness as residency applicants. This study implemented an eight-week pre-clinical elective titled "The History of Anesthesia" for first- and second-year students at Baylor College of Medicine. Eighty-eight students participated in the elective, with thirteen completing both pre-course and post-course surveys. The survey, consisting of thirteen questions related to anesthesia interest and relevant clinical knowledge, was analyzed, and statistical significance was calculated. The survey results demonstrated significantly elevated levels of self-assessed knowledge in the post-course survey compared to the pre-course survey (p < .05). Notably, topics considered more clinically relevant, such as modern anesthetic techniques, regional anesthesia, and obstetric anesthesia, exhibited significantly higher average survey results in the post-course compared to the pre-course results. The implementation of pre-clinical electives focusing on success in clinical settings appears beneficial for students aspiring to apply to an anesthesiology residency. Institutions should consider exposing students to anesthetic topics earlier in their academic journey to adequately prepare them for the competitive residency application process.

Published in International Journal of Anesthesia and Clinical Medicine (Volume 12, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijacm.20241201.15
Page(s) 20-25
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Anesthesiology, Elective, Pre-Clinical, Knowledge, Confidence, Self-Assessment

References
[1] Jennifer A. Rock-Klotz, Thomas R. Miller; 2023 Residency Match: Anesthesiology Is One of the Most Competitive Specialties. ASA Monitor 2023; 87: 1–5 https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ASM.0000949520.54783.93
[2] Brittany N. Burton, Nancy Boulos, Rodney A. Gabriel. Moderately to very competitive: The shifting interest in anesthesiology among medical students, Journal of Clinical Anesthesia, Volume 55, 2019, Pages 111-112, ISSN 0952-8180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinane.2019.01.005.
[3] Curry SE. Teaching Medical Students Clinical Anesthesia. Anesth Analg. 2018; 126(5): 1687-1694. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000002802
[4] Vinagre R, Tanaka P, Park YS, Macario A. Red Flags, Geography, Exam Scores, and Other Factors Used by Program Directors in Determining Which Applicants Are Offered an Interview for Anesthesiology Residency. Cureus. 2020; 12(11): e11550. Published 2020 Nov 18. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.11550
[5] Shah S, Con J, Mercado L, Smiley A, Weber G, Abramowicz AE. Predictors of Matching into Anesthesiology and Surgery: Analysis of One Program's Results. J Surg Educ. 2023; 80(9): 1231-1241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2023.06.021
[6] De Oliveira GS Jr, Akikwala T, Kendall MC, et al. Factors affecting admission to anesthesiology residency in the United States: choosing the future of our specialty. Anesthesiology. 2012; 117(2): 243-251. https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0b013e31825fb04b
[7] Chuang Z. Anesthesiologists in the modern medical school curriculum: importance and opportunity. Can Med Educ J. 2023; 14(2): 175-177. Published 2023 Apr 8. https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.76188
[8] Naik VN. Pre-clerkship teaching: Are we missing an opportunity? CanJAnaesth. 2017; 64(1): 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12630-016-0763-2
[9] Sheu L, Goglin S, Collins S et al. How Do Clinical Electives during the Clerkship Year Influence Career Exploration? A Qualitative Study. Teach Learn Med. 2022; 34(2): 187-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2021.1891545
[10] Kendra L Walsh, Abhishek Yadav, Michael Cradeur, et al. Impact of a Preclinical Medical Student Anesthesiology Elective on the Attitudes and Perceptions of Medical Students Regarding Anesthesiology, Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 14: 1347-1355, https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S427974
[11] Galway UA. Designing an Optimally Educational Anesthesia Clerkship for Medical Students - Survey Results of a New Curriculum. J Educ Perioper Med. 2014; 12(1): E054. Published 2014 Jan 1.
[12] Agarwal A, Wong S, Sarfaty S, Devaiah A, Hirsch AE. Elective courses for medical students during the preclinical curriculum: a systematic review and evaluation. Med Educ Online. 2015; 20: 26615. Published 2015 May 11. https://doi.org/10.3402/meo.v20.26615
[13] Drolet BC, Sangisetty S, Mulvaney PM, Ryder BA, Cioffi WG. A mentorship-based preclinical elective increases exposure, confidence, and interest in surgery. Am J Surg. 2014; 207(2): 179-186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2013.07.031
[14] Basukala A, Chaudhary K. Early Clinical Exposure in Preclinical Years of Medical School. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2021; 59(242): 1072-1074. Published 2021 Oct 15. https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.5341
[15] Smyth M, Toguri JT, Dow T, Haupt TS, Roberts A, Raju K. Medical student exposure to anesthesiology through the Pre-clerkship Residency Exploration Program: impact on career interest and understanding of anesthesiology. Can J Anaesth. 2019; 66(9): 1126-1128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12630-019-01403-x
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Hauck, J., Angelov, I., Silcox, K., Khalifa, A. (2024). A Study on Pre-clinical Anaesthesia Elective in Shaping Medical Students' Knowledge and Career Perspectives. International Journal of Anesthesia and Clinical Medicine, 12(1), 20-25. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijacm.20241201.15

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    ACS Style

    Hauck, J.; Angelov, I.; Silcox, K.; Khalifa, A. A Study on Pre-clinical Anaesthesia Elective in Shaping Medical Students' Knowledge and Career Perspectives. Int. J. Anesth. Clin. Med. 2024, 12(1), 20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ijacm.20241201.15

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    AMA Style

    Hauck J, Angelov I, Silcox K, Khalifa A. A Study on Pre-clinical Anaesthesia Elective in Shaping Medical Students' Knowledge and Career Perspectives. Int J Anesth Clin Med. 2024;12(1):20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ijacm.20241201.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijacm.20241201.15,
      author = {Jeffrey Hauck and Ivan Angelov and Kelli Silcox and Ali Khalifa},
      title = {A Study on Pre-clinical Anaesthesia Elective in Shaping Medical Students' Knowledge and Career Perspectives},
      journal = {International Journal of Anesthesia and Clinical Medicine},
      volume = {12},
      number = {1},
      pages = {20-25},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijacm.20241201.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijacm.20241201.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijacm.20241201.15},
      abstract = {Anesthesiology stands out as one of the rapidly growing and highly competitive medical specialties, necessitating students to cultivate an interest in anesthesia early and prepare extensively for clinical electives. Pre-clinical electives that introduce students to anesthesia and ready them for clinical settings in the early stages of their academic journey may confer benefits and enhance their competitiveness as residency applicants. This study implemented an eight-week pre-clinical elective titled "The History of Anesthesia" for first- and second-year students at Baylor College of Medicine. Eighty-eight students participated in the elective, with thirteen completing both pre-course and post-course surveys. The survey, consisting of thirteen questions related to anesthesia interest and relevant clinical knowledge, was analyzed, and statistical significance was calculated. The survey results demonstrated significantly elevated levels of self-assessed knowledge in the post-course survey compared to the pre-course survey (p < .05). Notably, topics considered more clinically relevant, such as modern anesthetic techniques, regional anesthesia, and obstetric anesthesia, exhibited significantly higher average survey results in the post-course compared to the pre-course results. The implementation of pre-clinical electives focusing on success in clinical settings appears beneficial for students aspiring to apply to an anesthesiology residency. Institutions should consider exposing students to anesthetic topics earlier in their academic journey to adequately prepare them for the competitive residency application process.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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    AB  - Anesthesiology stands out as one of the rapidly growing and highly competitive medical specialties, necessitating students to cultivate an interest in anesthesia early and prepare extensively for clinical electives. Pre-clinical electives that introduce students to anesthesia and ready them for clinical settings in the early stages of their academic journey may confer benefits and enhance their competitiveness as residency applicants. This study implemented an eight-week pre-clinical elective titled "The History of Anesthesia" for first- and second-year students at Baylor College of Medicine. Eighty-eight students participated in the elective, with thirteen completing both pre-course and post-course surveys. The survey, consisting of thirteen questions related to anesthesia interest and relevant clinical knowledge, was analyzed, and statistical significance was calculated. The survey results demonstrated significantly elevated levels of self-assessed knowledge in the post-course survey compared to the pre-course survey (p < .05). Notably, topics considered more clinically relevant, such as modern anesthetic techniques, regional anesthesia, and obstetric anesthesia, exhibited significantly higher average survey results in the post-course compared to the pre-course results. The implementation of pre-clinical electives focusing on success in clinical settings appears beneficial for students aspiring to apply to an anesthesiology residency. Institutions should consider exposing students to anesthetic topics earlier in their academic journey to adequately prepare them for the competitive residency application process.
    
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Author Information
  • Baylor Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

  • Baylor Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

  • Baylor Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA

  • Baylor Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA; Department of Anesthesiology, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Houston, USA

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