Background
The General Medical Council will be implementing a national examination for all UK medical students in 2022. Our aim was to review surgeon educator perceptions on the future implementation of an associated undergraduate national curriculum in otolaryngology within a UK School of Surgery.
Methods
A mixed methods study was performed to assess ENT surgeon educator perspectives of a change to a national curriculum in ENT. Responses were reviewed with respect to teaching content, quality and student experience with degree of agreement assessed with Likert scoring. Associated qualitative focus group sessions were performed and responses underwent detailed thematic analysis according to grounded theory.
Results
A response rate of 50% was achieved with twenty-one participants analysed working in fourteen hospitals. These held an average of eight years undergraduate teaching experience. These showed strong agreement believing implementation of a national curriculum would improve the standard of teaching delivered at a personal, institutional and national level. There was also agreement on a minimum baseline for teaching exposure by students. 95% of surgeon educators in otolaryngology were in support of future adoption of a change to a centralized national otolaryngology curriculum in contrast to conventional expectations of resistance. Further related themes were identified relating to the personal, institutional and specialty related factors influencing practical delivery of a national curriculum that can help shape this delivery.
Conclusions
Evaluating the future implementation of a national curriculum in ENT from those involved in the regular practical delivery of undergraduate medical education was previously unassessed within the medical literature. A series of practical recommendations are made to assist the implementation of a national ENT curriculum in contrast to the current locally led system. These were divided into areas of teaching content, teaching quality and student experience. A national curriculum appears to offer a philosophically accessible and popular re-imagining for future undergraduate otolaryngology training. Our findings aim to offer assistence to other similar surgical sub-specialties facing similar challenges internationally.