Use of a hybrid-abdominal wound simulated patient in the ACS/ASE medical student simulation skills curriculum

We incorporated a hybrid-abdominal wound simulation to teach/assess the acquisition of three essential clinical skills in the ACS/ASE Medical Student Simulation-based Surgical Skills Curriculum. Third year students (N = 43) attended a workshop based on the ACS/ASE surgical skills curriculum for drain care/removal, staple removal and Steri-Strip application. Following a didactic session and demonstration using a simulated patient, student skill acquisition was assessed using the ACS/ASE module rating tool. Student interest/perceived usefulness of the workshop was evaluated using Keller's Motivational Survey. We used median scores to identify low proficiency (n = 20; scores 17–28) and high proficiency (n = 23; scores 29–35) groups. The high proficiency group was more knowledgeable, performed better drain care, had a higher global score and was more confident than the low proficiency group. The students rated the workshop highly based on the Keller's Motivational Survey. All students were proficient in the procedure tasks and communication skills and most felt that the course was beneficial. The ACS/ASE Medical Student Simulation-based Surgical Skills Curriculum was successfully integrated into our third year surgical clerkship. •Implemented the surgical drain module of the ACS/ASE Medical Student Surgical Skills Curriculum in third year clerkship.•High proficiency medical students had a higher global score than students in the low proficiency group. Summary sentence: The ACS/ASE Medical Student Simulation-based Surgical Skills Curriculum was developed to provide structured, uniform and consistent learning experiences. We successfully implemented the surgical drain module of the curriculum with third year medical students by incorporating a hybrid-abdominal wound simulated patient.