Early intervention to promote medical student interest in surgery and the surgical subspecialties

摘要

As third-year medical students, from a medical school in the United Kingdom, we were very interested in your article on early exposure to surgical teaching, as we felt that this was particularly relevant to our own lack of surgical exposure in our first 2 years at medical school. Generally, we felt like we received little information on the progression of career paths following medical school, in particular regarding the various surgical fields. For example, we have found that there is little knowledge amongst students as to the exact duration, intensity, and specifications of training. We feel that with further understanding of what surgical training would entail, some of the discouraging attitudes and negative preconceptions toward a career in surgery could be dispelled. Furthermore, we would find it particularly helpful to learn about the different subspecialties of surgery as this would enable us to pick appropriate student-selected components aimed toward building an interest in a specific area and facilitate early career planning.