title: A program of microsurgical training for young medical students: are younger students better?
abstract: In the European countries there is a lack of young doctors. This shortage limits the possibilities for recruiting skilled surgeons for the microsurgical disciplines. Complicating the situation is the fact that most students do not decide on their area of specialization until the late clinical semesters. The authors present a new program of microsurgical training that dispenses completely with animal training. In addition, a scoring system is presented that enables instructors to compare the microsurgical skills of different students for the purpose of further statistical analysis. This scoring system could be used for the evaluation of potential microsurgical candidates as well as for other purposes, e.g. scientific projects. A total of 36 students with an average age of 24.2 were trained, with good-to-excellent results. Microsurgical training of young students can be recommended. A point worth exploring in the future is whether there are different learning curves for different age groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ruhr University Bochum, Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Bochum, Germany. martin.scholz@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mücke
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hölzle
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmieder
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pechlivanis
authors.forename: Albrecht G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Harders
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000193:education*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000592:standards*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical