University and practice based physicians' input on the content of a surgical curriculum

BACKGROUND: The specific surgical knowledge and skills students learn durin g surgical rotations are reconsidered in light of recent changes in medical school curricula. The purpose of this study was to determine the prioritie s of a surgical curriculum based on input from three groups: surgical facul ty (SF), primary care faculty (PCF), and community-based, practicing primar y care physicians (PCP). METHODS: A questionnaire was developed in which SF (n = 54), PCF (n = 85), and PCP (n = 876) were asked to rank the importance of 145 areas of knowled ge and 48 areas of clinical skills on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Response s were rank ordered by the mean of importance ratings for each group. Diffe rences among groups were evaluated using ANOVA. RESULTS: Response rates were best for faculty (100% SF, 88% PCF, 61% PCP). All three groups considered general surgery related topics and general skil ls very important. Primary care physicians and PCF consistently ranked otol aryngology, ophthalmology, and orthopedic topics and skills higher than did SF. Surgery faculty ranked invasive surgical procedures higher than did PC P while PCP ranked orthopedic procedural skills more highly. CONCLUSIONS: There is significant overlap among physicians about what medic al students should learn during a surgical rotation. Differences between gr oups centered on surgical subspecialty knowledge and clinical skills. These results provide a broad perspective about required subjects for a core sur gical clerkship curriculum, which should include surgical subspecialty trai ning, Am J Surg. 1999;178:78-84. (C) 1999 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.