Background and Aim: Nowadays Clinical Skills Centers are important structural components of medical education systems globally. In these centers medical students are trained using a variety of methods and techniques, one method being teaching in structured stations. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of this method by comparing the students' self-assessment of their own basic surgical skills before and after structured stations teaching.

Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2004-08 in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The participants included 268 medical students at the clerkship stage; there were 3 trainer groups. The pre- and post-self assessment techniques were used to assess the learning progress. ANOVA & Paired-t and non-parametric tests were used for data analysis.

Results: Irrespective of which year the students were in, self- scoring on 17 cognitive subjects and 10 procedural skills showed a significant improvement after the instruction (p<0.001). There were significant differences among the 3 trainer groups (p<0.001).
Conclusion: This study suggests that teaching basic surgical skills using structured stations is effective in improving practical skills.