Gender differences among medical students in the approach to simulation

INTRODUCTION: Simulation-based training is gaining ground as a replacement for the "apprenticeship" model of training. For this reason, it is useful to know if men and women have the same prerequisites and assumptions prior to training. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether male and female medical students performed differently whilst training in a bronchoscope simulator. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At a medical conference in Copenhagen, 62 medical students took part in a simulator experiment (number of male students: 33, number of female students: 29). Data collection was obtained from the bronchoscope simulator. The participant's task was to identify and visualise as many orifices as possible during five minutes, without impinging on the mucous membranes. RESULTS: The male participants visualised a significantly higher amount of segments (p = 0,045) than the female participants, however there were also significantly more incidences of impingement on nearby mucous membranes in the male group of students (p = 0,045). At Copenhagen Medical School, there are almost twice as many female students as male students. Thus, gender distribution among the participants in this study does not reflect the gender distribution at a Danish medical school. This implies that men's interest in simulation is higher than the one of women's, and the results suggest a gender difference in the approach to simulation based training. CONCLUSION: Gender differences should be taken into consideration, when planning and organising medical education and assessment in simulation training.