Evaluation of a simulation-based mini-elective on medical student interest in cardiac surgery

Background Integrated cardiothoracic (CT) surgery training programs are an increasingly popular pathway to train CT surgeons. Identifying and engaging medical students early is important to generate interest and ensure highly qualified applicants are aware of opportunities provided by a career in CT surgery. Methods An optional CT surgery "mini-elective" was developed for preclinical medical students consisting of five 2-hour sessions covering major procedures in cardiac surgery. Each session had an inital 1 hour lecture immediatly followed by a hands on simulation component. Sessions were taught by CT surgery faculty and residents. A precourse and postcourse survey was administered to identify interest in and awareness of the field of CT surgery. Results There were 22 students enrolled in the course who provided precourse surveys, while 21 provided postcourse surveys. CT surgery was a career consideration for 95.4% of students who took the mini-elective. nine percent of the students who had either scrubbed or observed a CT case precourse, increased to 33.3% postcourse (P = .11). With regards to mentorship, 23.8% felt they could easily find a mentor in CT surgery precourse, increasing to 66.7% postcourse (P = .01). Eighty-one percent of students reported that the mini-elective significantly increased their CT knowledge over the standard cardiovascular curriculum, and 100% of those completing the course were "extremely satisfied" with the experience. Conclusions A CT surgery mini-elective increased awareness and interest in the field among preclinical medical students. Longitudinal exposure and mentorship provided in programs such as this will be key to the continued recruitment of high-quality medical students to the field.