Service through surgery: A quasi-experimental comparison study on the impact of a preclinical seminar course on diverse mentorship and attitudes towards the underserved

Background: Increased surgical workforce diversity diminishes health disparities. Methods: Researchers recruited and nonrandomly enrolled participants into intervention and comparison groups for a quasi-experimental study of the impact of a seminar course on student exposure to diverse mentorship and service through surgery. All metrics were analyzed with chi-squared and paired t-tests. Results: 109 students participated (34 intervention, 75 comparison). There were significant differences in the percentage of participants that newly met a surgeon of their race (intervention, comparison: 100%, 25%), their race and gender (80%, 21%), their religion (23%, 9%), and who completed health disparities research (90%, 45%, p-value for all <0.05). There was a nonsignificant change in participants’ attitudes towards underserved populations in intervention and comparison groups. Conclusions: This preclinical surgery seminar course increased exposure of underrepresented students to surgeons from diverse backgrounds and may impact student attitudes towards the underserved. This class represents a replicable model for increasing mentorship.