title: Growing the 'SEAD': Expansion of the Surgical Exploration and Discovery Program.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The declining popularity of surgical specialties among North American medical students has been attributed partially to limited early exposure and minimal involvement of surgeons in preclerkship education; in response, the Surgical Exploration and Discovery (SEAD) program was developed at the University of Toronto in 2012. SEAD is a 2-week curriculum that provides first-year medical students comprehensive exposure to surgical specialties through operating room observerships, simulation workshops, and career discussions. This study is the first to examine implementation of the SEAD program at another site.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective cohort study evaluated the effectiveness of the SEAD program in improving surgical knowledge and facilitating career decision making when compared with a control group. In all, 18 students participated in the SEAD program, and 18 students from the same class read only the program's instructional manual; both the groups completed multiple-choice tests and questionnaires at baseline and at completion to assess knowledge acquisition and career-related learning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both the groups significantly improved their surgical knowledge, but there was no difference between groups. SEAD participants made significantly greater progress in refining their career decisions when compared with the control group; all but one SEAD participant either gained interest in or ruled out a surgical specialty as a potential career choice compared with only 10 of the participants reading the manual only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SEAD program provides a meaningful opportunity for medical students to explore surgical careers during preclerkship and to make better-informed career decisions. This expansion demonstrates that the program can be successfully reproduced at another institution.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Linden
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Head
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario; Canada; Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nada
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gawad
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario; Canada; Academy for Innovation in Medical Education (AIME), Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Seabrook
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre (uOSSC), The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tardioli
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario; Canada; Academy for Innovation in Medical Education (AIME), Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre (uOSSC), The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Stanley J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hamstra
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario; Canada; University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre (uOSSC), The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: tbrandys@toh.on.ca.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brandys
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000193:education*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Medical Knowledge; Practice-Based Learning and Improvement; Systems-Based Practice; career choice; medical students; simulation; surgery; surgical education; undergraduate medical education