title: A senior elective designed to prepare medical students for surgical residency.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The transition from medical student to surgery internship can be stressful. The goal of this project was to design, implement, and evaluate a 1-month long elective course that would meet the majority of the American College of Surgeons Graduate Medical Education Committee prerequisites for graduate surgical education
  
  
  METHODS
  The major elements of the curriculum included faculty- and resident-facilitated case-based sessions and cadaver dissections. In addition, the students participated in skills laboratory experiences, Intensive Care Unit rounds, and mock interviews and clinical pages. The students took a knowledge pretest and post-test that was compared with the performance of 8 surgical interns on the same examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The highest rated elements of the course were those that provided hands-on experience or practical knowledge. The post-test knowledge examination scores were significantly higher than pretest scores and surgical intern scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was possible to develop a 1-month senior medical student elective course that provided students with the essential prerequisites believed to be essential for all surgical interns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, PO Box 19655, Springfield, IL 62794-9655, USA. mboehler@siumed.edu
authors.forename: Margaret L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Boehler
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Cathy J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schwind
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fortune
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ketchum
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dunnington
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D013337:Students, Medical