title: Interest and applicability of acute care surgery among surgeons in Quebec: a provincial survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute care surgery (ACS) comprises trauma and emergency surgery. The purpose of this new specialty is to involve trauma and nontrauma surgeons in the care of acutely ill patients with a surgical pathology. In Quebec, few acute care surgery services (ACSS) exist, and the concept is still poorly understood by most general surgeons. This survey was meant to determine the opinions and interest of Quebec general surgeons in this new model.
  
  
  METHODS
  We created a bilingual electronic survey using a Web interface and sent it by email to all surgeons registered with the Association québécoise de chirurgie. A reminder was sent 2 weeks later to boost response rates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 36.9%. Most respondents had academic practices, and 16% worked in level 1 trauma centres. Most respondents had a high operative case load, and 66% performed at least 10 urgent general surgical cases per month. Although most (88%) thought that ACS was an interesting field, only 45% were interested in participating in an ACSS. Respondents who deemed this concept least applicable to their practices were more likely to be working in nonacademic centres.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite a strong interest in emergency general surgery, few surgeons were interested in participating in an ACSS. This finding may be explained by lack of comprehension of this new model and by comfort with traditional practice. We aim to change this paradigm by demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of the new ACSS at our centre in a follow-up study.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Affilié Universitaire de Québec, Québec, Que. emilie.joos.1@ulaval.ca
authors.forename: Émilie
authors.initials: É
authors.lastname: Joos
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Trottier
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thauvette
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D011792:Quebec; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014193:Trauma Centers; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000601:surgery*