Really good stuff: Advancing surgical skills and providing mentorship to surgery‐bound medical students during academic development time

Increasingly, medical schools are abbreviating their preclinical curricula in exchange for academic development time (ADT). 1 Advocates for this reform highlight that it allows students to tailor their education to areas of personal interest through service, research, and other scholarly pursuits.At our institution, students complete core clerkships in the second year before ADT.For students planning surgical careers, this risks attenuation of clinical acumen and limited exposure to the surgical community.We developed a resident-led, faculty-supervised curriculum to augment surgical learning, prepare students for sub-internships and residency applications, and cultivate a community of practice. | WHAT WAS TRIEDWe implemented a monthly curriculum for students pursuing general surgery or associated subspecialties spanning their ADT, as a complement to other required programming.The sessions covered equipment, imaging, laparoscopy, robotics, and case-based didactics in trauma, emergency surgery, colorectal, thoracic, surgical oncology, and minimally invasive surgery (MIS).Skills sessions included knot tying, MIS basics, wound closure, and bowel anastomosis.The series concluded with a primer on surgical sub-internships and an overview of the residency application process, including one-on-one advising on personal statements and mock interviews.