The good ol' days is now: trends in operative experience of general surgical residents over 25 years.
To define the changing trends in operative experience of general surgery residents, the records of all residents completing our training program from 1964-1987 were reviewed. Except for a slight decline in operative experience in head and neck and gastric surgery, the experience in other primary component procedures either remained stable (major breast, esophagus, intestine, colon, pancreas, spleen and endocrine) or increased (minor breast, anorectal, hernia, biliary, vascular and trauma). A rich experience in secondary component procedures was maintained in thoracic, pediatric and plastic surgery, all of which are services within the department of surgery. A relatively low but stable experience in gynecology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics and urology has been reported, which did not change when these disciplines became separate departments. Finally, there has been a dramatic increase in endoscopic procedures performed in the surgery department despite the presence of endoscopic services in other departments. It is believed that such an institutional review of surgical resident caseload over time will be of help not only to program directors but also to accrediting and certifying organizations concerned with surgical training programs and their graduates.
Barnes
R W
RW
Department of Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205.
Whiteside
M F
MF
Eisner
J A
JA
Lang
N P
NP
Campbell
G S
GS
D001131:Arkansas; D002321:Career Choice; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000639:trends; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education / Q000639:trends*; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000639:trends*; D008511:Medicine; D013038:Specialization