Development and validation of a new assessment tool for suturing skills in medical students

Background: In recent years, emphasis has been put on that medical student should demonstrate pre-practice/pre-registration core procedural skills to ensure patient safety. Nonetheless, the formal teaching and training of basic suturing skills to medical students have received relatively little attention and there is no standard for what should be tested and how. The aim of this study was to develop and validate, using scientific methods, a tool for assessment of medical students’ suturing skills, measuring both micro- and macrosurgical qualities. Methods: A tool was constructed and content, construct, concurrent validity, and inter-rater, inter-item, inter-test reliability were tested. Three groups were included: students with no training in suturing skills, students who have had training, plastic surgery. Results: The results show promising reliability and validity when assessing novice medical students’ suturing skills. Conclusions: Further studies are needed on implementation of the instrument. Moreover, how the instrument can be used to give formative feedback, evaluate if a required standard is met and for curriculum development needs further investigation. Level of Evidence: Not ratable.