“Hold the retractor, that’s it?” – A retrospective longitudinal evaluation-study of the surgical and the elective tertial in the practical year

The compulsory surgical specialty was found to be deficient in student autonomy and supervision, which may explain the worsening recruitment problem. In order to improve the attractiveness of surgical training, a compulsory surgical elective could be introduced, where students could learn the core competencies in smaller units. This enhancement could increase the interest of future medical professionals in surgical training.