Surgical inclination in senior medical students from the University of Auckland: results of the 2005 Senior Students Survey.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the proportion of senior medical students who are surgically inclined and to assess whether gender differences exist in surgical inclination.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey. Twenty-five point questionnaire. Likert scale response ranking.


METHODS
University of Auckland Medical School, New Zealand.


METHODS
218 surveys were emailed to functioning addresses of fourth and fifth year students.156 students emailed responses (71.60% response rate).


RESULTS
Twenty percent of students were found to be surgically inclined (95% CI 0.15-0.26). The proportion of surgically inclined males was significantly higher than females (p<0.01). A greater proportion of surgically inclined students found time spent in the operating theatre educationally valuable than non-surgically inclined students (p<0.01). No difference exists in the number of different procedures undertaken by students (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Males are significantly more likely to be surgically inclined than females at the University of Auckland Medical School.
Insull
Phillip
P
Auckland Medical School, Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand. phillipinsull@gmail.com
Kejriwal
Ritwik
R
Segar
Anand
A
Blyth
Phil
P
D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*