DAY SURGERY - TEACHING THE NEXT-GENERATION

The advent of day surgery presents new opportunities and challenges fo r medical education. The opportunity to see patients pre-operatively a nd follow them through surgery to discharge on the same day is unique to day surgery. However, with rare exceptions, the development of educ ational programmes in ambulatory surgical settings is still largely at a rudimentary level. An undergraduate pilot programme was conducted a t the University of Ade;aide to explore the practicalities, acceptance and educational value of a day surgery programme for final-year medic al students. The programme had three components: day surgery patient f ollow through, practical procedure tutorials and problem-based learnin g tutorials. It incorporated assessment of practical skills and theore tical knowledge with the use of log books and clinical and practical s imulations as important elements in the assessment process. The pilot programme was accepted by all stakeholders and students' perceived sig nificant gains in knowledge and skills. This programme may provide a r eaching model that could be adapted for use in other medical schools.