Teleconferencing surgery enhances effective communication and enriches medical education.

Medical student surgical training has traditionally occurred in the operating room (OR). Present technology allows real time communication between the OR and a remote classroom. We seek to evaluate the value of the teleconferencing (TC) environment compared with the traditional OR environment. Students enrolled in the third-year core clerkship in surgery participated in both TC and OR teaching sessions. A total of 23 sessions were conducted and observed (TC=8; OR=15). In TC sessions, students asked over 4 times as many questions (17.4+/-8.5 vs. 3.4+/-3.0; P<0.01) and faculty asked 4 times as many questions of the students (13.1+/-6.8 vs. 3.1+/-2.7; P<0.01). In TC sessions, students felt more able to ask questions (P<0.01), left with fewer unanswered questions (P<0.01), and more felt it was a good use of their time (P=0.04). These findings demonstrate that TC is a valuable modality for medical student education.