PURPOSE: UK medical student exposure to surgical teaching is broadly limited to didactic lecture-based content, passive theatre observation, or often a single suturing session. Given the inherent dexterity required of surgical techniques, we evaluated medical student perspectives and exposure to practical surgical teaching.   METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study of UK medical students. The study tool was a questionnaire comprising 5-point Likert scales and open-ended qualitative questions, reaching 230 students at 10 medical schools over a one-week enrolment. Qualitative data underwent thematic analysis to quantitively model past experiences as Integrated Curriculum (IC), Supplementary Workshops (SW), or Advanced Simulation Training (AST). We also compared metrics to pre-/post-course responses from an undergraduate microsurgical course that we recently developed.   RESULTS: 119 respondents (51.7% response rate), mean year of study 3.32±1.39 (range 1-6), were categorised as 12.6% AST, 22.7% SW, and 64.7% IC. The mean response to if practical training would influence career aspirations was 4.13±0.92, and to considering a career in surgery 3.38±1.31, which was similar to pre-microsurgical course responses 3.94±0.93 (p=0.1008) but had a statistically significant lower response versus post-course responses 4.63±0.62 (p=0.0003). The response to curriculum integration of surgical practical skills was 1.75±1.01, and to support implementation 4.38±0.78.   CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest poor current integration of practical surgical skills teaching in the UK undergraduate medical curriculum. We outline a defined demand for future implementation and propose that gaining simulation exposure increases engagement in pursuing surgical careers, vital for future attraction and retention to surgical specialties.