Introducing Surgical Equity into Contemporary Medical Education: Results From Operation Equity, a Pilot Curriculum

Objective: To date, education about health equity for early-stage healthcare trainees is largely situated outside of surgical disciplines. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a surgical equity curriculum offered to a voluntary group of medical and graduate students.

Design: Mixed-methods cohort study from January to June 2021. Pre- and post-course surveys measured domains of attitudes, self-reported confidence, and knowledge via 5-point Likert scale and multiple-choice questions. Paired t tests were used to analyze quantitative responses. Qualitative responses were studied via iterative thematic analysis.

Setting: At the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA which provides tertiary level, institutional care, 10, interdisciplinary 1.5-hour sessions were held over 1 semester, teaching surgical equity topics that spanned the peri-operative continuum.

Participants: Twenty-four medical and graduate students from across the University of Pennsylvania enrolled. Twenty completed both surveys.

Results: From pre- to post-course, students improved across all domains. Students improved in their self-rated ability to identify strategies to talk about sensitive health topics with patients (pre: 20%, post: 90%) and identify strategies to address healthcare disparities in surgery (pre: 10%, post: 90%). Qualitatively, from pre- to post-course, more students could articulate the role of bias and identify opportunities for surgeons to engage in surgical equity. The course strengthened any pre-existing interest in surgical equity, and for 1 student, created interest in a surgical career where it had not previously existed. Many also expressed greater resolve to provide patient-centric care.

Conclusions: Formal curricula can improve students' ability to advocate for surgical equity. A similar framework may fill a need for medical students interested in health equity and surgical careers at other institutions.