First-year medical student perceptions of urologic and robotic surgery following pilot hands-on robotic workshops

Abstract

To explore first-year medical students’ perceptions of urology and robotic surgery following participation in hands-on robotic surgery workshops. Urology Interest Group hosted three separate workshops for first-year medical students, and surveys were administered retrospectively. Likert survey responses were analyzed by descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, while open-ended questions were analyzed by constant-comparative open coding. Participants reported perceived increases in interest in urologic and robotic surgery, with median responses exceeding a neutral midpoint (Likert score 3) (urologic surgery: Median 4, IQR 3.75-5, p < 0.001; robotic: Median 5, IQR 4–5, p < 0.001). 92% of participants retrospectively endorsed increased interest in robotic surgery and 75% in urologic surgery. Qualitative analysis identified three codes from student responses: hands-on practice, career exploration, and knowledge acquisition. First-year medical students perceived hands-on robotic surgery workshops as novel, valuable, and desirable learning experiences and expressed enthusiasm for additional exposure to robotic surgery and urology. These findings support the feasibility and acceptability of similar educational initiatives while highlighting the need for prospective studies to evaluate their educational and career-related outcomes.