Surgical Education and the Longitudinal Model at the Columbia-Bassett Program

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate a longitudinal medical student surgical curriculum.

Design: This is a case-controlled study of students who participated in a longitudinal surgical curriculum compared to students who participated in a standard 12-week surgical clerkship. This study evaluates qualitative data including exam scores as well as qualitative data regarding student experience.

Setting: All students were from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. A portion of the students completed their clerkship at the main university campus and others performed their clerkship at an affiliate site including Bassett Health Network. The longitudinal curriculum was only at the Bassett Health Network.

Participants: All medical students who completed their surgical curriculum from 2012 to 2015 were eligible. The survey response rate was 45% for a total of 128 students.

Results: The students receiving the longitudinal curriculum outperformed the block students on the national shelf exam (77 vs 71, p = 0.001). The longitudinal students were also more likely to learn directly from attending surgeons and were more likely to have a greater interest in a surgical career after their surgery experience.

Conclusions: The longitudinal approach to teaching surgery to medical students achieves non-inferior or superior testing outcomes when compared to the block model, and superior outcomes in terms of students' own attitudes and perceptions.