The Department of Surgery is actively involved in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate.
· Pre-clerkship
The Pre-clerkship is constructed to teach students the basic skills in history taking, communication skills and physical examinations.
The main objective of this rotation is to prepare medical students to start their clinical rotations for 10 weeks in different clinical components.
The students will be rotating in Surgery block which comprises of ENT, Musculo-Skeletal System and Gastro-intestinal &
Genitourinary System.
· Junior clerkship
The main purpose of the course is to train the student to analyse and examine the patients presenting with common surgical problems predominately benign conditions with few common malignant conditions. Additionally, students will gain knowledge by participating in scholarly activities like tutorials and lectures. The students are also encouraged to take part in patient’s care thereby achieving professionalism. Major emphasis is on clinical skills and management outlines.
The students spend 6 weeks in the surgical rotation of their Junior Clerkship, 2 weeks each at the Sultan Qaboos University, Royal Hospital and Khoula Hospital. They are further divided between various units. They are expected to know all about their patients and follow them till their discharge. Their skills of history taking, physical examination, management and communication are achieved during the morning rounds with the unit and bedside teaching where they are expected to participate in discussion and present their patients. Knowledge is attained through tutorials and lectures on topics of surgical importance. They are encouraged to see as many patients as possible, clerk them and track their progress by going through their case files. Students who are on call get to know of the common surgical emergencies and their management.
The student will have the skills of taking a complete history, clinically reasoning the symptoms and systematically examine the patient to demonstrate the physical signs. They will be able to list differential diagnosis, interpret the results of investigations and outline a management plan. They will have knowledge of common surgical problems.
· Senior clerkship
The main purpose of the course is to train the student to analyze and examine the patients presenting with common surgical problems of oncological nature. Additionally, students will gain knowledge by participating in scholarly activities like tutorials and lectures. The students are also encouraged to take part in patient’s care thereby achieving professionalism. Major emphasis is on clinical skills and management outlines.
The main objectives of this curriculum are to re-enforce what was learnt in junior clerkship regarding obtaining relevant history of patients presenting with common surgical symptoms.
There were will be progression of learning of various surgical disorders predominately malignant conditions and other important allied branches including Paediatric surgery.
· Pre-internship
The main purpose of the course is to prepare the students to be the future interns. At present they are learning to be good interns, after starting internship and doing so at variable speed. However, a well prepared intern is more likely to function effectively, if he has already been prepared to do so. The student would be shadowing the intern in the unit they are posted in, and help in clerking the patients, ordering investigations, analyzing the results and participating in the management of the patient, all under constant supervision of the seniors in the unit. The major emphasis in this rotation is to impart them the basic skills expected of an surgical intern, including tying knots, proper use of common surgical instruments (like scalpel, scissors, artery forceps), gowning and gloving, asepsis, DVT and antibiotic prophylaxis, and insertion and removal of catheters and tubes including, Foley’s, N G tube, intercostal tube, drains and sutures. Additionally they will be participating in scholarly activities mainly in the discussion during rounds to recollect what they have learnt in their previous clerkship in preparation for the MD examination. Hence the major emphasis in this rotation will be to impart them the basic surgical skills, participate in the management of patients and hence prepare them to be better interns.
· Residency
The practice of general surgery has evolved over the last three decades in the Sultanate of Oman in keeping with International standards and outcomes. The Scientific Committee for General Surgery under the auspices of Oman Medical Specialty Board has been delegated the responsibility of developing a new enhanced General Surgery Training Program. The approved training program will ensure in-depth knowledge, high standard of skills and attitudes essential for a surgeon and meet the Oman Medical Specialty Board’s accreditation criteria and International standards.
Surgical Residency Training in Oman Medical Specialty Board provides the opportunity for a candidate to acquire a range of clinical and operative skills, which with time will allow the Trainee to perform as a competent independent Surgeon. The new program has been updated in such a way as to match our needs in Oman and to produce an independent surgeon.
The ultimate aim is to improve the quality of General Surgery care throughout the country by developing and setting the professional and educational standards for the training and certification of General Surgery Specialists according to Oman Medical Specialty Board criteria.