When surgeons decide to become surgeons: new opportunities for surgical education. Am J Surg 2014 Feb;207(2):194-200
Date
01/29/2014Pubmed ID
24468025DOI
10.1016/j.amjsurg.2013.10.010Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84893074664 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 24 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: When surgeons decide to become surgeons has important implications. If the decision is made prior to or early in medical school, surgical education can be more focused on surgical diseases and resident skills.
METHODS: To determine when surgeons - compared with their nonsurgical colleagues - decide on their medical path, residents in surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and emergency medicine were surveyed. Timing of residency choice, demographic data, personal goals, and reason for residency choice were queried.
RESULTS: A total of 234 residents responded (53 surgical residents). Sixty-two percent of surgeons reported that they were "fairly certain" of surgery before medical school, 13% decided during their preclinical years, and 25% decided during their clerkship years. This compares with an aggregate 40%, 7%, and 54%, respectively, for the other 5 residency specialties. These differences were statistically significant (P = .001). When the 234 residents were asked about their primary motivation for choosing their field, 51% pointed to expected job satisfaction and 44% to intellectual curiosity, and only 3% mentioned lifestyle, prestige, or income.
CONCLUSIONS: General surgery residents decide on surgery earlier than residents in other programs. This may be advantageous, resulting in fast-tracking of these medical students in acquiring surgical knowledge, undertaking surgical research, and early identification for surgical residency programs. Surgical training in the era of the 80-hour work week could be enhanced if medical students bring much deeper knowledge of surgery to their first day of residency.
Author List
Hochberg MS, Billig J, Berman RS, Kalet AL, Zabar SR, Fox JR, Pachter HLAuthor
Adina L. Kalet MD Institute Director, Professor in the Kern Institute for Transforming Medical Education department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultCareer Choice
Clinical Competence
Female
Humans
Internship and Residency
Job Satisfaction
Male
Physicians
Specialties, Surgical
Students, Medical
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
