Training of Military Surgeons: Evaluation of Internships Abroad as Part of the Initial Training of the Military Surgeon

Objective: The military surgeon is exposed to a double exercise constraint. The activity in mainland and the one on deployment turned towards the emergency, trauma and overflowing the perimeter of the university preparedness. The growing filiarization of the university curriculum creates a dissociation between these two imperatives. Additional training is therefore necessary. An internship abroad adapted to the particular conditions of exercise on deployment is part of it. We evaluated the interest of this internship in the preparedness of young military surgeons for the first deployment.
Methods: The study included all active military surgeons who completed this course during their initial training. The collection of data was done by a questionnaire. The main criterion of judgment was the rate of positive answers given to the interest of the internship in preparing for the first deployment.
Results: 69 out of 73 surgeons responded. 61 felt that this internship allowed them to feel more operational for their first deployment, with 83.61 % rating this feeling as important. 61 recommended this course for training in war surgery. The score for surgical interest was 8.48/10. The quality of supervision was evaluated at 8.00/10 and the general interest of the internship at 8.86/10.
Conclusion: The internship abroad allows the familiarization with the practice of the surgery in degraded situation and the particularities in the surgical structures of the front. The current return of trainees confirms his interest.