Can STEEM be used to measure the educational environment within the operating theatre for undergraduate medical students?

Abstract

The educational environment has been shown to have a great influence on teaching and learning in undergraduate education. The operating theatre can seem an intimidating and frightening environment for medical students. This study used the Surgical Theatre Educational Environmental Measure (STEEM) questionnaire to measure the operating theatre learning environment for 83 final-year medical students at the University of Birmingham. There was a 100% response rate. Data were analysed overall and with regard to gender. The results showed that overall there was an acceptable educational climate within the operating theatre for medical students. Male students viewed the atmosphere in the operating theatre in a less positive light than female students and also perceived more discrimination because of their race than their female counterparts. The STEEM has been shown to be a reliable and practical tool for measuring the operating theatre educational environment in medical students with an overall alpha reliability of 0.86.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shobhana Nagraj

SHOBHANA NAGRAJ is an Education Fellow in Surgery at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, where her time is divided between teaching medical students from the University of Birmingham, research in Surgical Education and clinical work in the Department of General Surgery.

David Wall

DAVID WALL is Deputy Regional Postgraduate Dean in the West Midlands Deanery and Professor of Medical Education at Staffordshire University.

Ellen Jones

ELLEN JONES is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Sub-dean at the trust for the University of Birmingham Medical School, UK.