title: Assessing trainee impact on operative time for common general surgical procedures in ACS-NSQIP.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effect of surgical trainee involvement on operative time for common surgical procedures. Laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and open inguinal hernia repair comprise 17.7% of the total cases sampled in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. These cases are commonly performed by residents at varying levels of surgical training.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed using American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data from 2005 through 2008 selecting patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and open inguinal hernia repair. The primary outcome was operative time and predictive variables were resident involvement and training level. Linear regression analysis was used to compare operative times between cases performed by an attending alone and those assisted by junior (postgraduate year 1-2) or senior (postgraduate year 3-5) trainees, adjusting for patient and operative factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 115,535 surgical cases were included, with 65,364 (59%) performed with junior or senior surgical residents. Resident participation was associated with higher operative times with no significant differences between the junior and senior cohorts; this effect persisted after controlling for potential confounding factors. Operative time increased by 16.6 minutes (95% confidence interval, 16.2-17.0) for junior residents and also by 16.6 minutes (95% confidence interval, 16.2-16.9) for senior residents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Surgical trainees' participation in common surgical procedures is associated with an increase in total operative time, with no difference between trainee seniority levels. This finding may be significant in assessing the impact of residency training programs on hospital efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Center for Pediatric Surgical Clinical Trials and Outcomes Research, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papandria
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: Gezzer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: Yiyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Amany
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gorgy
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Makary
authors.forename: Fizan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abdullah
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001062:Appendectomy / Q000193:education; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic / Q000193:education; D002983:Clinical Competence; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery; D059685:Herniorrhaphy / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000193:education; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult