The following is a summary of “Medical students and mattering on the surgery clerkship rotation,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Surgery by Higgins, et al.

The study investigated the concept of mattering, which refers to a person’s perception of their significance and ability to make a difference in the world. For a study, researchers sought to explore the behaviors that impacted mattering among third-year medical students on their surgery clerkship to improve the overall clerkship experience. 

The study involved conducting qualitative interviews with medical students who had completed their surgery clerkship at a single institution during the 2019-2020 academic year. The data collected from the interviews were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis, with the three primary domains of mattering – awareness, importance, and reliance – used as the framework for categorization. 

The study conducted six interviews with medical students who had completed their surgery clerkship, and the responses were analyzed for the three primary domains of mattering. The analysis revealed eight subthemes, which included positive observations that may influence student mattering during the clerkship. The behaviors that increased awareness included acknowledging the presence of the student, maintaining eye contact, offering undivided attention, and getting to know the students as individuals. The important behaviors involved taking the time to teach, setting expectations early, and providing timely feedback. The reliance behaviors focused on developing trust, matching autonomy with experience, and relying on the students to provide unique patient care information to the team. The findings can help educators to recognize the specific behaviors that make medical students feel valued during their surgery clerkship and can be used to design interventions that increase student awareness, importance, and reliance. 

The study’s findings can be used to develop interventions that increase the sense of awareness, importance, and reliance for both students and faculty, ultimately improving the medical student experience in their surgery clerkship.

Reference: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00626-2/fulltext