Surgery News - January 2009 - (Page 7) JANUARY 2009 • SURGERY NEWS THE THE E In initial interviews, the most common reasons for leaving surgical training were lifestyle issues (work hours and family life); economic issues and financial compensation; the changing face of surgery (increased specialization, and the fact that other specialties now are performing procedures that used to be in the realm of the general surgeon); personal factors; and the stress involved in taking care of surgical patients, she said. Women leave surgical training at much higher rates than do men, she added. People tend to leave programs after their first year or after their research time. Some have become urologists, anesthesiologists, or psychiatrists. Those who leave after their research time have been training for 4-5 years, so that represents a huge loss to the profession, she said. Interventions could include a more supportive social structure and changes in program structure and teaching, ac- 7 Research Aims to Halt Resident Attrition BY JANE ANDERSON 20/20 / 0/20 Else vier Global Medical Ne ws V SION O SIO SION IO survey-based research project underway at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., may shed light on why attrition is higher in surgical residency than in other residency programs, and ideally will help to identify preventive actions to change this trend, according to Dr. Heather Yeo, the study’s principal investigator. Dr. Yeo, a Yale Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and categorical surgical resident, became interested in surgical workforce issues during her first 2 years of residency, when several residents left the program. “We were losing a lot of really good people in training, and I wondered what the profession was doing wrong,” said Dr. Yeo. HEATHER “What we hope YEO, M.D. to do is identify the factors that help predict attrition so that we can intervene.” Most years, about 1,000 surgical residents enter training, which means there are 6,000-7,000 surgical residents active at any given time, Dr. Yeo said. One or two of every five surgical residents abandon training, a rate that is “much higher than in any other specialty that has published their own data,” she said. Approximately 150 residents leave training programs in any given year, and the rate of attrition from individual programs ranges from 15% to 33%, according to published data. The Surgical Resident Cohort Project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and the American Board of Surgery, seeks to determine the incidence of attrition, identify the factors associated with attrition, and define potential areas of policy- or program-based action. The project, which began surveying residents in June 2007, will track surgical residents over 3 academic years. The survey is linked to the annual in-service examination, and looks at actual experiences and changing perceptions in surgical residency, Dr. Yeo said. It includes questions about the reasons for entering surgery and choosing a program; residents’ expectations about training, fellowship, and surgical practice; and actual resident experiences and perceptions of the field, she explained. Phase I involved in-depth retrospective interviews with surgery residents who left their programs, and the development of a survey on attrition issues. In phase II, Dr. Yeo is looking prospectively at interns’ expectations from surgical residency. She will survey surgical residents annually and will analyze the data to identify changes in expectations, changes in experience, and areas for potential intervention. A cording to Dr. Yeo. It may be necessary to increase the numbers of residents initially matched in order to compensate for attrition during the program’s life cycle. “I love surgery,” Dr. Yeo said. “I think for people who love it and are reasonably good at it, we should make it easier for them to stay.” ■ 2009 STS Meeting Booth #209 Capture on video EXACTLY what you see USB plug-and-play connectivity Straight digital output - no conversion needed Angle Other Loupes SurgiTel eliminated all of the l neck pain that I previously endured with other telescopes. Raymond L. Singer, MD 1(800) 959-0153 http://www.surgitel.com http://www.surgitel.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Surgery News - January 2009 Surgery News - January 2009 Contents The 20/20 Vision Intent to Prevent News From the College: The Year Ahead Thoracic: Tracheal Triumph Practice Trends: Making the Grade Surgery News - January 2009 Surgery News - January 2009 - Contents (Page 1) Surgery News - January 2009 - Contents (Page 2) Surgery News - January 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Surgery News - January 2009 - Contents (Page 4) Surgery News - January 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Surgery News - January 2009 - The 20/20 Vision Intent to Prevent (Page 6) Surgery News - January 2009 - The 20/20 Vision Intent to Prevent (Page 7) Surgery News - January 2009 - News From the College: The Year Ahead (Page 8) Surgery News - January 2009 - News From the College: The Year Ahead (Page 9) Surgery News - January 2009 - Thoracic: Tracheal Triumph (Page 10) Surgery News - January 2009 - Thoracic: Tracheal Triumph (Page 11) Surgery News - January 2009 - Thoracic: Tracheal Triumph (Page 12) Surgery News - January 2009 - Thoracic: Tracheal Triumph (Page 13) Surgery News - January 2009 - Thoracic: Tracheal Triumph (Page 14) Surgery News - January 2009 - Practice Trends: Making the Grade (Page 15) Surgery News - January 2009 - Practice Trends: Making the Grade (Page 16)
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