Undergraduate surgical education in an ambulatory surgery setting

Ambulatory surgery is now well established as an effective method to treat a wide range of surgical conditions. This has resulted in many surgical cases no longer being available as teaching resources for surgical students undertaking their clinical clerkship on a surgical ward. Changes in the final year surgical curriculum at the University of Adelaide resulted in the formation of a day surgery term as a separate option for undergraduates. Educational outcome in the day surgery students, in the form of examination results, was compared with the remainder of the class. There was no difference in objective assessment between the groups. The ambulatory surgery setting offers a viable and alternative teaching environment for undergraduate surgical students.