Learning Outcomes
Duties and responsibilities assigned to students, and also the role that is expected to take are almost similar to those of a First Year Medical Student. However, they are not completely the same. All student activities must be under the strict guidance of specific trainers, with whom they will cooperate closely. In cases that the instructor cannot be close to the student when he is performing his duties, the student will be directed to on-call doctors of the Department or to the doctor who has the responsibility of the specific patient.
The proposals of the students related to the diagnosis, medical and nursing instructions and treatment of surgical patients are expected, encouraged and are welcome from all the medical and nursing staff. However, for educational, patient’s safety and legal reasons, the above actions are the sole responsibility and liability of the medical and nursing staff.
We must emphasize that nurses and doctors are working closely and as a team. As part of the education of students, the nursing staff provides invaluable work and we hope that the cooperation of students will be expected to be perfect in every respect.
Undoubtedly, the successful treatment of surgical patients requires, inter alia, sincere understanding, sympathy and love towards them. Medical students in order a) to be able to gain patient’s confidence, especially those with whom they come into contact for the first time and b) elicit the necessary diagnostic information related to the physical, mental and social wellness, they must take the patient’s medical history and perform clinical examination with particular delicacy and politeness, respecting human dignity and medical confidentiality. Always remember that each patient has his own personality, which under the influence of his illness, pain, fear and entering the hospital environment can be externalized with multifaceted aspects.
1. Achieving the Course’s objectives
To achieve equivalently objectives of the Course in Clinical Surgery, the student must:
a. Attend the Outpatients Clinic of the Department
b. Practice in surgical wards, where student will
* Take patient’s medical history, perform clinical examination and complete patient’s medical notes the day of the admission to the surgical ward.
* Interested in completion of tests that requested.
* Know patient’s operation notes.
* Know and document the preoperative and postoperative course of the patient.
* Know the preoperative and postoperative medications of the patient.
* Perform wound care.
* Insert simple venous and arterial lines, urinary catheter, nasogastric tube etc.
* Be familiarized with continuous monitoring of high risk surgical patients.
* Shadow trainees and specialty doctors in daily ward rounds and also the Head of the Department in frequent ward rounds that he performs. Student must present medical history the in the ward course of the patient which is under his responsibility.
* Check patient’s file and notes daily
c. Assist in operations or in other invasive procedures of patients which are under student’s responsibility.
d. Be present in on-calls, when doctors of the Department are on-call, where student will
* Take history and perform clinical examination in cases of an emergency admission.
* Provide first aid.
* Suture wounds and soft tissues.
* Assist in emergency operations or in other urgent invasive procedures.
e. Be familiar with certain research protocols of the Department and if student wishes he can participate in the procedure.
f. Attend scientific meetings or events and any other educational program of the Department.
g. Write an interesting scientific topic with the guidance of a faculty member and present it, during the training period, in front of the staff of the Department.
2. Orientation in Training and Trainers doctors
Names of the Trainers doctors who guide and supervise daily activities of students, and also evaluate their performance are announced to students the first day of the Course in each Department separately. The announcement will be given by the competent Clinical Coordinator, who informs students about the whole philosophy and way of attending the training Course in the Department. At the end of each fortnight Coordinator convenes Trainers and trainees students in joint session, which problems related to the whole educational process will be discussed in order to improve and continuously evaluate the course.
Course Content (Syllabus)
1.Aim of Education
Α. Consolidation of knowledge, most of which has already been taught in lessons of Surgery I and II
B. The development of clinical, mainly, skills and competences
C. The cultivation of medical attitudes and behavior, expected by society.
The involvement of students in this course presuppose that the full understanding of the basic principles which govern the overall physiology of the organism and the basic principles of pathophysiology of major diseases taught in courses of Surgery I and II. On the other hand, teachers have a duty to lie next to the educational problems of students and cultivate continuously the spirit of high responsibility, which shall embrace disease prevention and treatment of patients.
2. Students’ allocation in Departments that participate in the Course
During that period of time, students will be trained in following Departments:
• 1st Department of Surgery (Papageorgiou Hospital)
• 2nd Department of Surgery (G. Gennimatas Hospital)
• 3rd Department of Surgery (AHEPA Hospital)
• 4th Department of Surgery (G. Papanikolaou Hospital)
• 5th Department of Surgery (Hippokration Hospital)
• 1st Propaedeutic Department of Surgery (AHEPA Hospital)
• 2nd Propaedeutic Department of Surgery (Hippokration Hospital)
Duration: 12 weeks.
3. The concepts of duty and responsibility of medical students
The main areas of activity include:
• Outpatients Clinic
• Emergency Department
• Wards
• Operation Theatres
• Resuscitation Unit
• Intensive Care Unit (I.C.U)
Furthermore, each Department may have other functional rooms either nursing or experimental, which students can use for educational purposes.
Description
Assessing the students’ performance during the Course.
To evaluate the performance of students in the Course of Clinical Surgery the following elements will be considered:
• The practical knowledge, gained during the Course
• The ability to collect data.
• The ability to solve problems.
• The initiative and productivity.
• Attendance and reliability.
• Team working.
• Writing and presentation of an interesting topic.
• Written examinations.
Performance assessment of the students is performed in a similar way in all Departments and recorded on a special form, for which students are informed by the Clinical Coordinator during the first day of the Course.
1. Explanatory comments about the content of students evaluation form
• The practical knowledge, gained during the Course
It refers to whether the student’s practical knowledge has been achieved during the Course and if it is based to the relevant theoretical background. For example, student may be asked in conjunction with what tools or instruments are needed to make a wound care of a trauma, how and when full healing is achieved.
• The ability to collect data.
Assessment of student’s ability to collect essential data from the history and physical examination of the patient.
• The ability to solve problems.
The assessment of problem solving ability of the student related to the collection and evaluation of those elements of the history, physical examination and various diagnostic tests, which lead to proper differential diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic management (decision making). For example, in a patient with acute abdomen, a key question that must be answered is whether the medical assistance will require surgical treatment, and if so, how urgent should be.
• The initiative and productivity.
With the meaning of initiative means all the useful energy of the student, which go beyond the usual instructions, which must be implemented, again in the context of guided training. For example, the search for additional useful bibliographic data except those given by the Trainer is an element of positive initiative. Productivity refers to the implementation of a specific project within a specific timeframe.
• Attendance and reliability.
The attendance is associated with the student’s knowledge of the main problems of the patient for whom it is responsible, both in wards and Outpatient Clinics.
• Team working.
Medical procedures are usually performed within existing working groups, and the particular philosophy of the Department’s practice protocols. Therefore, the cultivation of normal and productive relationships with the medical, nursing and other staff of the Department and Laboratory considered a key factor of successful completion of student’s mission during the Course. Respect the strict observance of medical confidentiality, cooperation between the student and staff of the Department and Laboratories at a professional level, the exemplary consistency of words and deeds and the respect of the responsible physician’s decisions, are elements which correspond to the spirit (attitude) of the Course.
• Writing and presentation of an interesting topic
At the start of the Course, the student undertakes a topic under the guidance of a faculty member. The writing and presentation of the study are carried out during the Course and its evaluation is included in the final score.
The evaluation focuses on the structure of the presentation, references, the answers given by the patient during the presentation and the looking of, both the text and the presentation.
* Written examinations
The written tests are similar and take place at the same time and day for all students. Are carried out within the first week after the end of Course in the auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine with the responsibility of the individual seven (7) Coordinators under the supervision of the General Clinical Coordinator, who has ultimate responsibility for the proper conduct of examinations. The examinations are multiple choice system and students are considered successful if they will answer correctly 60% of all questions.
Final evaluation
For the final evaluation it is considered:
• The assessment of writing and presenting the study (10%).
• The oral examination, which focuses on the assessment of the evidence mentioned in paragraph eight (8), ie, the theoretical knowledge, the ability to collect data and problem solving, initiative, productivity, monitoring and reliability and associated (30% )
• The written examination (60%). Includes 100 multiple-choice questions. Minimum success rate is the correct answering of 60% of questions.
• The day, time and themes of the written examination are similar for all students of the semester. General Coordinator of the Course and Course Coordinators at individual clinics are responsible for the collection and delivery of the examination topics.