General surgery resident attrition and the 80-hour workweek.
BACKGROUND
This study examines the effect of implementation of the resident duty-hour regulations on the attrition rate of general surgery residents.


METHODS
A 7-part survey encompassing the 2001 to 2004 academic years was sent to program directors of general surgery residency programs in the United States.


RESULTS
One hundred twenty-four of 252 programs (49%) responded, reporting a loss of 338 categorical residents. The total attrition rate increased from .6 residents lost/program/y to .8 residents/program/y (P = .0013). Lifestyle concerns were the most commonly reported reason for residents leaving during surgical training. The majority (56%) of those who left surgery entered other fields of medicine (ie, Anesthesia and Family Medicine most commonly).


CONCLUSIONS
More residents are leaving general surgery training since the institution of the 80-hour workweek. Despite improvements in work hours and lifestyle during surgical training, residents migrate to specialties that are conducive to a more controllable lifestyle after experiencing surgery residency.
Everett
Christopher B
CB
Department of Surgery, Room 3082, The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, 929 N. Saint Francis St, Wichita, KS 67214, USA.
Helmer
Stephen D
SD
Osland
Jacqueline S
JS
Smith
R Stephen
RS
D002321:Career Choice; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008019:Life Style; D013332:Student Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce; D016526:Workload / Q000592:standards