Abstract
AIM: Essential Skills in the Management of Surgical Cases (ESMSC Marathon Course™()) Integrated Generation 4 (iG4) is the first reported multifaceted undergraduate surgical course aiming to provide holistic surgical teaching. In this prospective observational study, we explored students' views on the iG4 curriculum, and identified how it can potentially address modern challenges in surgical training. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Medical students were invited to apply to the course online and were screened against pre-defined criteria. A multi-national structured questionnaire incorporating five domains related to the course curriculum and our dedicated research network, was designed and distributed to participants after successful completion of the course. RESULTS: Forty-one students from European and Asian medical schools completed the course and filled in the survey. The median overall evaluation score of the course was 4.73 out of 5 (interquartile range=4.21-4.72) and all students found that iG4 served the vision of holistic surgical education. ESMSC had a positive motivational effect towards following a career in surgery (p=0.012) and 92.7% of students declared that it should be an essential part of a future medical school curriculum. There was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in results between participants of different countries of study, year of studies or age group. CONCLUSION: The ESMSC Marathon Course™ is perceived as a unique course model, with an established educational value and a positive motivational effect towards surgery. It might potentially be implemented in future medical school curricula as an essential element of undergraduate surgical education. The iG4 curriculum has opened a new exciting horizon of opportunities for advancing undergraduate holistic surgical education.