SAN DIEGO – Graduates of U.S. surgical residency training are generally very satisfied with their postgraduate choices, whether they opt for fellowships or not.
However, the 20% who opt to practice as general surgeons rather than pursuing subspecialty and fellowship training are more confident of their skills as they emerge from residency. “Specialty training does not result in greater confidence,” said Dr. Mary Klingensmith, professor of surgery and vice chair for education at Washington University, St. Louis. She discussed these results and other insights drawn from a nationwide survey of surgical residency graduates at the annual meeting of the American Surgical Association.
Dr. Mary Klingensmith
Dr. Klingensmith noted that there is a growing deficit of general surgeons, with a 25% decline in practicing general surgeons over the last 2 decades and an additional 18% decline projected over the next 20 years. A need existed, she said, for a systematic survey of recent graduates to identify the factors that play into the decision to pursue postgraduate training rather than enter directly into practice as a general surgeon.
A survey developed by American Board of Surgery (ABS) directors and executive staff was sent to all allopathic general surgery (GS) graduates from 2009 to 2013. Of 5,512 graduates, 3,354 (61%) responded. About three-quarters of respondents were specialist surgeons (SS).
The analysis of survey results conducted by Dr. Klingensmith and her colleagues compared the general to the specialist surgeons’ responses, and linked the surveys to the ABS database, which provided demographic characteristics that included residency program type, performance on board exams, and the postgraduate fellowship pursued, if any.
Surgeons were surveyed about their level of confidence in the independent practice of 16 common general procedures, including such “bread and butter” procedures as laparoscopic appendectomy and cholecystectomy, herniorrhaphy, and screening colonoscopies. Respondents were also asked to indicate how confident they were performing less common procedures, including tracheostomies, arterioveneous (AV) fistulas for dialysis, laparoscopic Nissen fundoplications, thyroidectomies, and laparoscopic colon resections.
Responses on a five-point Likert scale were sorted by type of subspecialty training, if any. After the most confident group – pediatric surgeons – general surgeons were significantly more likely to feel confident in their surgical skills than were the other specialist surgeons (P < .0001). Essentially all general surgery respondents were “very” or “mostly” confident of their ability to perform such common procedures as laparoscopic appendectomies and cholecystectomies, as well as ventral herniorrhaphies. Confidence decreased for specialists and nonspecialists alike for the more complex and less common surgeries. Overall, 94% of general surgeons and 90% of specialist surgeons were very or mostly confident of their abilities.
For general surgeons, factors influencing their choices included the opportunity for a broad scope of practice (63%), the influence of a mentor (56%), readiness to be done with training (26%), and being confident with the amount of training received (26%). For the specialists, the most influential factors included high degree of interest in the chosen specialty (57%), interest in improving specific skills (35%), and the opportunity to increase confidence and experience (35%). Both groups felt they’d made the right decision overall: 94% of general surgery graduates and 90% of those pursuing fellowships were very or somewhat satisfied with their career choices.
Study limitations included the risk of nonresponder bias, and the fact that only the most common procedures were included in the survey. Also, no outcome data were available to validate self-perceptions of competence, said Dr. Klingensmith.
The survey and its analysis “have implications that are enormous for the workforce needs of the country, and it’s clear that lack of confidence is an issue for a small but likely significant number of trainees,” said discussant Dr. J. David Richardson of the University of Louisville (Ky.). Greater opportunities for general surgery rotations, as well as stronger general surgery mentorship during residency, may help increase the number of general surgeons entering practice in the future, said Dr. Klingensmith.
The complete manuscript of this study and its presentation at the American Surgical Association’s 135th Annual Meeting, April 2015, in San Diego, California, are anticipated to be published in the Annals of Surgery pending editorial review.