615 Achieving Net Zero Emission by 2050 – The Medical Education Route

Introduction There is growing demand to reduce the environmental impact of surgery. Healthcare sustainability has recently become a mandatory GMC learning outcome for undergraduates, but expertise amongst faculty and time within the curriculum are limited. We piloted an E-module that uses surgical case studies to teach these concepts. Method Evidenced-based multi-media learning principles were used to develop the module. 3rd and 4th year students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School were invited to partake and complete pre- and post-module questionnaires comprising 5-point Likert scales and white-space questions. The primary outcome measures were changes in student-reported understanding of four key concepts: Environmental impact of healthcare Influence of climate change on health. Principles of sustainable clinical practice. Health co-benefits of climate change mitigation. Results 33 students completed the E-module. Questionnaire results indicated a significant increase in understanding of all key concepts (p < 0.001). Students most commonly rated improving sustainability of healthcare as ‘extremely important’. Common themes within white space responses included the importance of preventative medicine and that the module was informative, interactive, user-friendly, and engaging. The majority (81%) strongly agreed that all undergraduates should undertake this module. Conclusions This E-module is an effective and COVID-19-safe resource. Adapting this module for postgraduate surgical education should be explored.

Critical fail concepts in surgery: highlighting the “must-know” concepts

As the vast majority of medical students do not pursue further postgraduate surgical education, we suggest that failing to achieve certain learning objectives (LOs) has greater potential consequences than others. We developed a tiered LO architecture that classifies a high-priority subset of "critical fail" LOs within the current surgical learning objectives for medical students. Followup of student performance on written examinations revealed an improvement in applying critical fail concepts without sacrificing performance on other LOs. Here we describe how we modified our declared curriculum to incorporate these changes.

Character failings in the surgeon fallen from grace: a thematic analysis of disciplinary hearings against surgeons 2016–2020

Surgeons are commonly evaluated with respect to outcomes and adherence to rules and regulations, rather than a true holistic examination of the character of the surgeon in question. We sought to examine the character failings of surgeons who faced fitness to practice enquiries under the Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service in the UK. In particular, we examined the absence of virtue as perceived through the lens of Aristotelian ethics using thematic analysis of tribunal hearing transcripts from 2016 to 2020. We identified three overarching themes that are explored in depth: ‘the god complex’, ‘reputation over integrity’ and ‘wounded pride’. We hope to use this as the foundation for a re-examination of the place of phronesis in postgraduate surgical education, which we argue should be perceived as an exercise in character development and reformation rather than the simplistic teaching of skills to standardised outcomes.

Motivational factors of surgeons interested in postgraduate surgical education: a narrative inquiry

Clinical teachers are central to the successful education of medical graduates and dedicated surgical trainers are pivotal to the training of surgical trainees. The structure of education has changed within the NHS: the instigation of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) and Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) has taken the ultimate responsibility for quality assurance from the colleges and the profession, into a government-run body.