Thoughtful surgical practice for therapeutic self: A randomized control trial

Objectives: To determine the role of structured reflection in teaching basic surgical skills in undergraduate students.

Methods: A randomized control trial was done in two medical colleges of Punjab, from January to December 2017 in which participants were divided into two groups through stratified random sampling. Structured reflection was done by interventional group after training. Post-test was taken to assess their surgical skills. Independent t-test compared the mean of two groups. One-way ANOVA was calculated to measure the difference within the different sub-categories of experimental group.

Results: Out of 140 students that participated in the study, 138 students stayed till the end (retention rate 98.5%, attrition rate 1.5%). Independent t-test (p-value = 0.01) showed statistically significant difference in both control and interventional groups. One-way ANOVA with robust test of equality of Means showed a positive relationship of reflective capacity and acquisition of surgical skills.

Conclusion: The novices who demonstrates better reflective capacity exhibit better acquisition of surgical skills.