Table 3 Suggestions to improve the quality of surgical rotation (multiple responses)

Surgical issues

105 (70.5%)

49 (73.1%)

56 (68.3%)

0.590

 Hands-on or other measures for surgical skill training

67 (45.0%)

31 (46.3%)

36 (43.9%)

0.773

“More opportunities to learn surgical skills in the theatre and in-house surgical workshops for skills”

“More opportunities to do cases in theatre under supervision to improve confidence”

 Participation in operating theatre procedures

48 (32.2%)

21 (31.3%)

27 (32.9%)

0.837

“House officers should be encouraged to assist surgical procedures in theatre and required to perform a minimum number of surgeries like appendicectomies before completing the rotation, which is expected of us once we become medical officers”

Supervision

27 (18.1%)

10 (14.9%)

17 (20.7%)

0.399

“Specialist surgeons should improve supervision of house officer training”

Structured curriculum

22 (14.8%)

10 (14.9%)

12 (14.6%)

> 0.999

“Everyone should get the equal chance of rotating through the various surgical subspecialties”

“Define some ‘must know - achieve proficiency’ surgical procedures in theatre”

“House officers should be involved in the management of the patient at every level. Not just doing reviews and chasing blood and other investigations”

Infrastructure & resources

13 (8.7%)

7 (10.4%)

6 (7.3%)

0.565

“Improvement in availability of instruments for surgery and basic surgical procedures”

Systematic issues

10 (6.7%)

2 (3.0%)

8 (9.8%)

0.186

“Improved referral systems”

Personnel

4 (2.7%)

3 (4.5%)

1 (1.2%)

0.327

“Recruitment of more house officers per facility to ensure equal spread of work burden, in order to give enough time for acquisition of surgical skill in theatre”

Others

15 (10.1%)

7 (10.4%)

8 (9.8%)

“More motivation”

“Preparedness to learn and humility”

“Less intimidation from senior colleagues”