Evaluation of a Preceptorship Model on Third Year General Surgery Clerkship.

Background Medical students increasingly report not feeling meaningfully involved during surgical clerkships. Preceptorship and mentorship through longitudinal experiences ameliorate this problem. A preceptorship model was introduced into the surgery clerkship at our institution to increase contact and improve relationships between students and faculty. Methods The preceptorship model was introduced at select sites in 2017. In contrast to the standard structure in which students are assigned to cases and clinics as needed, preceptorship students are assigned to attending surgeons and follow the surgeons’ schedules for the rotation. Student performance data including final grades, clinical evaluations, and shelf examination scores were collected for clerkship students from May, 2017 to November, 2018. Formative and summative evaluations for each student were collected. Qualitative content analysis was used to explore evaluations for themes. Results 274 students completed the clerkship during the study period; 41 experienced a preceptorship model. There was no difference in student performance across clerkship structures. Summative and formative evaluations for preceptorship students were longer than for traditional students (137 words vs 78 words, p Conclusions A preceptorship model was successfully implemented on the third-year surgical clerkship at our institution. While there was no difference between top performers on either clerkship structure, preceptorship students received written evaluations with better feedback as a result of their direct relationship with faculty. Strategies such as this, which improve student-faculty relationships, will be needed as programs find new ways to assess residency applicants.