Igniting The Spark Early : A Pilot Basic Laparoscopic Skills Course For High School Students In Nepal

Igniting The Spark Early : A Pilot Basic Laparoscopic Skills Course For High School Students In Nepal

Prarthana Subedi , Ashmita Khatri, Sulav Katuwal, Bishow Karki
Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Kathmandu, Nepal National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal; Kist medical college and teaching hospital, Lalitpur, Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal; Chitwan Medical College, Bharatpur, Nepal; Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, United Kingdom

Introduction: Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) face critical physician shortages. Introducing surgical skills early can demystify surgery and inspire health careers dismantling gender stereotypes . The Global Surgery Simulation Network launched Nepal’s first grassroots Basic Laparoscopic Skills pilot workshop for high school students to foster early engagement in surgery .

Aim: To assess feasibility and impact of pilot Basic Laparoscopic Skills Workshop in equipping high school students with skills and sparking interest in surgical careers in an LMIC context .

Methodology: Four high-school students (2 Male , 2 Female ; Mean: 14.5 years ) joined a one-day hands-on Basic Laparoscopic Skills Workshop alongside medical students , using low cost box trainers . Activities included peg transfer, sugar cube stacking , and threading a polo facilitated by two female medical students. Pre and post session surveys (Likert scaled questionnaires) assessed , task performance , surgical interest and gender perceptions. Data was analyzed with Wilcoxon signed rank tests (p<0.05) .

Results: Mean interest in surgical careers increased from 2.5 +/- 0.6 to 4.3 +/- 0.4 ( Δ+1.8, p=0.02) Awareness of surgical careers increased from 2.8 +/- 0.7 to 4.5 +/-0.2 (Δ+1.7 , p=0.04 ).

All students completed peg transfer ; 2/4 completed threading and 3/4 completed sugar-cube stacking. All participants expressed enthusiasm, recommended the program to peers, and affirmed girls can be surgeons too. Early hands-on exposure fosters interest , promotes skills and challenges genders stereotypes in LMIC despite limited resources.

Conclusion: This pilot demonstrates that low-cost early laparoscopic exposure in high school is feasible, inspires interest in surgery and supports future surgical pipeline development aligned with global equity.

Keywords: Basic laparoscopic skills, surgical equity, high school, pilot workshop