Improving Hands-On Suture Opportunities for Medical Students: A Collaborative Initiative Between Medical Students and a Simulation Lab

TL;DR

Medical students face limited hands-on suture practice opportunities, and this paper suggests ways to improve access and feedback through peer-led initiatives and simulation labs.

Contribution

The paper proposes integrating simulation labs with peer-assisted learning to enhance technical skill training for medical students.

Findings

Pre-clerkship Canadian medical students report limited and poorly timed suture practice opportunities.

Peer-led suture events are insufficient due to limited access and feedback.

Simulation labs can support peer-assisted learning by training students to teach and provide feedback.

Abstract

Technical skills are an integral part of the practice of medicine. Simulation-based education (SBE) is a widely employed approach that allows students to acquire these skills prior to practicing them in the clinical setting. To discuss the state of SBE and potential avenues to improving education and medical student experiences, this editorial will explore the lived experiences of junior medical students, the observations of a research graduate student’s informal conversations, and an educational quality improvement (EQI) pilot conducted by students at a satellite medical campus.

Pre-clerkship Canadian medical students reported having limited opportunities to practice their technical skills. For some, these SBE sessions came at inopportune times in their academic journey, preventing them from maximizing their chances at real-world exposure. Having identified this as an issue, students sought ways to allow themselves and their peers to practice technical skills outside of the undergraduate medical curriculum, such as organizing peer and near-peer-led suturing events. Still, students feel these sessions are a start but do not adequately meet their needs, as access to practice materials is still restricted to the sparse events held by students, and experienced feedback is scant. To address these needs, we explore how simulation technology research and development labs can support peer-assisted learning by training students to teach technical skills and provide feedback to their peers. We also propose increasing access to simulation materials asynchronously to allow for practice when the students can benefit most.