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Importance of student mentorship in cardiothoracic surgery Denis Ajdarpasic, Final Year Graduate Entry Medicine Student, University of Nottingham Medical School Mohammad Hawari, Consultant Thoracic Surgeon, Nottingham City Hospital
T
he traditional way of teaching aspiring surgeons has been “See One, Do One, Teach One”. However, with a limited number of surgical placements on the undergraduate curriculum, particularly during the pandemic, how does one begin the long journey of becoming a surgeon if we are not seeing, let alone doing or teaching? Mentorship is one of way of improving access and diversity in surgery by giving mentors an opportunity to guide an aspiring surgeon through the
Practicing opening incision with appropriate haemostasis and asceptic technique
long yet rewarding path that lies ahead. Competition for places will always be high (113 applicants for six places at ST1 selection in 2021), however, could we be doing more to attract students from under-represented backgrounds and make cardiothoracics appealing to a broad cohort of future surgeons? My medical school (Nottingham) piloted a mentorship programme called FirstCut, which was 6 months in duration and partnered a medical student with a consultant surgeon from various
Practicing one handed hand tie technique for chest drain insertion
specialties. The structure of the programme involved a minimum of three meetings with our mentors; an introductory meeting to discuss our objectives, a mid-programme review, and an end-of-programme sign-off to reflect on the programme as a whole. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to be mentored by Mr Mohammad Hawari in Thoracic Surgery at Nottingham City Hospital. We would like to share our experiences and recommendations on the importance of student mentorship in cardiothoracic surgery.
Practicing instrument tie technique for chest drain insertion
