title: Teleconferencing surgery enhances effective communication and enriches medical education.
abstract: Medical student surgical training has traditionally occurred in the operating room (OR). Present technology allows real time communication between the OR and a remote classroom. We seek to evaluate the value of the teleconferencing (TC) environment compared with the traditional OR environment. Students enrolled in the third-year core clerkship in surgery participated in both TC and OR teaching sessions. A total of 23 sessions were conducted and observed (TC=8; OR=15). In TC sessions, students asked over 4 times as many questions (17.4+/-8.5 vs. 3.4+/-3.0; P<0.01) and faculty asked 4 times as many questions of the students (13.1+/-6.8 vs. 3.1+/-2.7; P<0.01). In TC sessions, students felt more able to ask questions (P<0.01), left with fewer unanswered questions (P<0.01), and more felt it was a good use of their time (P=0.04). These findings demonstrate that TC is a valuable modality for medical student education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Monahan
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Villegas
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003625:Data Collection; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009873:Operating Rooms; D019114:Remote Consultation; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013685:Telecommunications