The Effect of an Organ Procurement Experience on Preclinical Medical Student Perceptions of Transplant Surgery
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco.
Meeting: 2018 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: B340
Keywords: Employment, Psychosocial, Public policy
Session Information
Session Name: Poster Session B: Non-Organ Specific: Economics, Public Policy, Allocation, Ethics
Session Type: Poster Session
Date: Sunday, June 3, 2018
Session Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Presentation Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Location: Hall 4EF
Purpose
To evaluate the effect of an Organ Procurement Experience elective on preclinical medical students' perceptions regarding Transplant Surgery.
Material and Methods
Over one year, preclinical medical students' perceptions regarding Transplant Surgery were anonymously electronically surveyed before and after shadowing a deceased donor organ procurement. Survey responses were entered along a 5-point Likert scale. Two way ANOVA was used to assess for differences between genders before and post-shadowing.
Results
Over one year, 34 male and 31 female preclinical medical students were surveyed before and after their organ procurement experience. Post-elective survey data revealed that shadowing a procurement increased students' self-perceived education about the field of transplant surgery (2.2/5 pre-procurement, 3.9/5 post-procurement; P<0.001), and enhanced perceptions of the personalities and collegiality between transplant surgeons (3.0/5 pre-procurement, 3.7/5 post-procurement; P=0.005). When stratified by gender, improved perception of collegiality between surgeons was only apparent in women (p=0.004), but not in men (p=0.812). There was a trend towards an improvement in male, but not female, perception regarding call schedule (p=0.068) and perceived ability to find a mentor (P=0.056).
Figure Legend: 1=Strongly Disagree, 5=Strongly Agree; ** P<0.01, *** P<0.005, **** P<0.001
Conclusion
Early exposure to transplant surgeons and the organ procurement process can positively impact preclinical medical students' perspectives on transplant surgery. Shadowing the organ procurement process also helped to eliminate some differences in perception between men and women, but continued and early outreach efforts will be critical to ensure a diverse and well-informed applicant pool.
CITATION INFORMATION: Feinstein M., Marcus S., Amara D., Durcanova B., Roll G., Orandi B. The Effect of an Organ Procurement Experience on Preclinical Medical Student Perceptions of Transplant Surgery Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Feinstein M, Marcus S, Amara D, Durcanova B, Roll G, Orandi B. The Effect of an Organ Procurement Experience on Preclinical Medical Student Perceptions of Transplant Surgery [abstract]. https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/the-effect-of-an-organ-procurement-experience-on-preclinical-medical-student-perceptions-of-transplant-surgery/. Accessed May 16, 2025.« Back to 2018 American Transplant Congress