A Study on Pre-clinical Anaesthesia Elective in Shaping Medical Students' Knowledge and Career Perspectives

Abstract

Anesthesiology stands out as one of the rapidly growing and highly competitive medical specialties, necessitating students to cultivate an interest in anesthesia early and prepare extensively for clinical electives. Pre-clinical electives that introduce students to anesthesia and ready them for clinical settings in the early stages of their academic journey may confer benefits and enhance their competitiveness as residency applicants. This study implemented an eight-week pre-clinical elective titled "The History of Anesthesia" for first- and second-year students at Baylor College of Medicine. Eighty-eight students participated in the elective, with thirteen completing both pre-course and post-course surveys. The survey, consisting of thirteen questions related to anesthesia interest and relevant clinical knowledge, was analyzed, and statistical significance was calculated. The survey results demonstrated significantly elevated levels of self-assessed knowledge in the post-course survey compared to the pre-course survey (p < .05). Notably, topics considered more clinically relevant, such as modern anesthetic techniques, regional anesthesia, and obstetric anesthesia, exhibited significantly higher average survey results in the post-course compared to the pre-course results. The implementation of pre-clinical electives focusing on success in clinical settings appears beneficial for students aspiring to apply to an anesthesiology residency. Institutions should consider exposing students to anesthetic topics earlier in their academic journey to adequately prepare them for the competitive residency application process.