Research

About

The Research Domain is dedicated to conducting large-scale surgical education projects, with the aim to inform SUTURE UK’s educational framework, determine current gaps in surgical education, and to contribute to surgical education literature.

Through our extensive and international student and trainee network, we are able to carry out high-quality, large-volume collaborative research, which we hope will draw important conclusions for how international surgical education should be delivered.

We hope to provide opportunities for students and trainees alike, to get involved in our research as collaborators, allowing them to develop their research skills, to network, and to begin building their portfolios for surgical research.

Our Aims

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Systematically assess the current provision, accessibility, and quality of UK undergraduate surgical skills training on an international level

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Determine the impact of surgical skills training on attitudes towards surgery and surgical careers.

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Provide an evidence base to SUTURE UK’s educational framework, including curriculum content, delivery, and assessment.

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Use our wide-reaching student and trainee network to collect large-scale data and provide students and trainees the opportunity to get involved with collaborative research.

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Contribute to the field of surgical education research with high-quality, large-scale research projects led by students and trainees.

Our Projects

National Survey Assessing the Provision, Quality and Accessibility of Surgical Skills Teaching in UK Medical Schools

Junior doctors must be competent in basic surgical skills. However, the availability of skills training is not well characterised across the UK. This project aimed to assess the provision, quality and accessibility of skills training available to UK medical students, through a survey disseminated nationally to student surgical societies and medical students.

Status: Data analysis complete.

Systematic Review Assessing Teaching Methods for Surgical Skills

This review will aim to assess which methods of undergraduate surgical skills training have been evaluated and conclude the most effective teaching methods for surgical skills training.

Status: data collection in progress

Validation of the SUTURE UK OSATS criteria for in-person and video assessment of surgical skills, and development of a protocol for surgical skills evaluation from video recordings

This large-scale collaboration project aims to assess the validity of the SUTURE UK OSATS criteria for in-person and video assessment through surgical skills assessment days at our affiliated universities. Alongside this we are constructing a guide for students on how to prepare for video assessment of surgical skills. This will provide students and trainees the opportunity to get involved in collaborative research.

Status: Planning stage

Isabel Summers

Research Team Lead

Pavel Loginovic

Research Team Member

Josip Plascevic