Performance in the Duke-Elder ophthalmology undergraduate prize examination and future careers in ophthalmology

How does participation in a voluntary prize exam affect medical students' knowledge and interest in ENT, plastic surgery, ophthalmology and dermatology?

BACKGROUND

Otolaryngology (ENT), plastic surgery, ophthalmology and dermatology are medical specialties which tend to receive less coverage in UK medical school curricula compared to larger, generalist specialties. As a result, there are fewer opportunities for medical students to learn and to cultivate an interest. There are numerous papers that report concerns about junior doctors' ability to manage conditions within these specialties, which may jeopardise patient safety. The aim of our pilot project was to increase medical students' interest and knowledge of ENT, plastic surgery, ophthalmology and dermatology. In addition to describing our project, we present and discuss literature on UK undergraduate education in these specialties and its impact on preparedness of junior doctors and future career choices.

METHODS

One hundred twelve final year medical students at Newcastle University were invited to take part in a voluntary two-part (written and clinical) exam, in which prizes could be won and all participants would receive a certificate of participation. We distributed two online surveys to the students, one administered before the exam and one afterwards. Data was collected regarding the students' motivation for entering the prize exam and the students' baseline interest and knowledge in these specialties before and after the prize exam. Free-text responses were collected about the students' opinion of the project and whether participation was beneficial.

RESULTS

Sixteen students participated in the exam. There was a statistically significant increase in the students' knowledge in ENT (p < 0.000), plastic surgery (p < 0.000), ophthalmology (p < 0.028) and dermatology (p < 0.012) after participation in the exam, but not in their interest levels. ENT was the preferred specialty of our cohort. The students reported that they found participation beneficial to their learning, particularly receiving exam feedback and explanations to exam questions.

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot project was a useful intervention in increasing medical students' knowledge in these specialties, but not in their levels of interest. It also demonstrates that medical students are willing to participate in voluntary initiatives (in their spare time) to gain more learning opportunities and that medical students value timely exam feedback to guide their revision.

The Career Impact of the National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition

BACKGROUND

Neurosurgery is a notoriously difficult career to enter and requires medical students to engage in extracurricular activities to demonstrate their commitment to the specialty. The National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition (NUNC) was established in 2013 as a means for students to display this commitment as well as academic ability.

METHODS

A bespoke 22-item questionnaire was designed to determine career outcomes and the role of competition attendance in job applications. It was distributed using the SurveyMonkey website to the 87 attendees at the 2013 and 2014 competitions.

RESULTS

Responses were received by 40 competitors (response rate, 46.0%). Twenty-four responders (60.0%) intended to pursue a career in either neurosurgery (n = 18) or neurology (n = 6). This included 10 responders (25.0%) who had successfully entered either neurosurgery (n = 9) or neurology (n = 1). The performance of these 10 was significantly better than the other responders (57.0 ± 13.6% vs. 46.5 ± 13.5% [n = 30]; P = 0.036). Seventeen responders (42.5%) either included their attendance at NUNC in a post-Foundation job application or intend to.

CONCLUSIONS

The NUNC provides the opportunity for medical students to demonstrate their interest in neurosurgery. It has the potential to be used as a tool for recognizing medical students suitable for neurosurgery training.

Can medical students accurately predict their learning? A study comparing perceived and actual performance in neuroanatomy

It is important that clinicians are able to adequately assess their level of knowledge and competence in order to be safe practitioners of medicine. The medical literature contains numerous examples of poor self-assessment accuracy amongst medical students over a range of subjects however this ability in neuroanatomy has yet to be observed. Second year medical students attending neuroanatomy revision sessions at the University of Southampton and the competitors of the National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition were asked to rate their level of knowledge in neuroanatomy. The responses from the former group were compared to performance on a ten item multiple choice question examination and the latter group were compared to their performance within the competition. In both cohorts, self-assessments of perceived level of knowledge correlated weakly to their performance in their respective objective knowledge assessments (r = 0.30 and r = 0.44). Within the NUNC, this correlation improved when students were instead asked to rate their performance on a specific examination within the competition (spotter, rS = 0.68; MCQ, rS = 0.58). Despite its inherent difficulty, medical student self-assessment accuracy in neuroanatomy is comparable to other subjects within the medical curriculum. Anat Sci Educ 9: 488-495. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.