Edward Gifford1, Joseph Galante2, Amy H Kaji3, Virginia Nguyen1, M Timothy Nelson4, Richard A Sidwell5, Thomas Hartranft6, Benjamin Jarman7, Marc Melcher8, Mark Reeves9, Christopher Reid10, Garth R Jacobsen10, Jonathan Thompson11, Chandrakanth Are11, Brian Smith12, Tracey Arnell13, Oscar J Hines14, Christian de Virgilio1. 1. Department of Surgery, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California. 2. Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California. 3. Department of Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California. 4. Department of General Surgery, University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque. 5. Department of General Surgery, Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines. 6. Department of Surgery, Mount Carmel Health System, Columbus, Ohio. 7. Department of Surgery, Gunderson Health System, La Crosse, Wisconsin. 8. Department of Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California. 9. Department of Surgery, Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, California. 10. Department of Surgery, UC San Diego Health System, San Diego, California. 11. Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha. 12. Department of Surgery, UC Irvine Medical Center, Orange, California. 13. Department of Surgery, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York. 14. Department of Surgery, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
Abstract
IMPORTANCE: General surgical residency continues to experience attrition. To date, work hour amendments have not changed the annual rate of attrition. OBJECTIVE: To determine how often categorical general surgery residents seriously consider leaving residency. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: At 13 residency programs, an anonymous survey of 371 categorical general surgery residents and 10-year attrition rates for each program. Responses from those who seriously considered leaving surgical residency were compared with those who did not. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Factors associated with the desire to leave residency. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 77.6%. Overall, 58.0% seriously considered leaving training. The most frequent reasons for wanting to leave were sleep deprivation on a specific rotation (50.0%), an undesirable future lifestyle (47.0%), and excessive work hours on a specific rotation (41.4%). Factors most often cited that kept residents from leaving were support from family or significant others (65.0%), support from other residents (63.5%), and perception of being better rested (58.9%). On univariate analysis, older age, female sex, postgraduate year, training in a university program, the presence of a faculty mentor, and lack of Alpha Omega Alpha status were associated with serious thoughts of leaving surgical residency. On multivariate analysis, only female sex was significantly associated with serious thoughts of leaving residency (odds ratio, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3; P = .003). Eighty-six respondents were from historically high-attrition programs, and 202 respondents were from historically low-attrition programs (27.8% vs 8.4% 10-year attrition rate, P = .04). Residents from high-attrition programs were more likely to seriously consider leaving residency (odds ratio, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.0-3.0; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: A majority of categorical general surgery residents seriously consider leaving residency. Female residents are more likely to consider leaving. Thoughts of leaving seem to be associated with work conditions on specific rotations rather than with overall work hours and are more prevalent among programs with historically high attrition rates.
IMPORTANCE: General surgical residency continues to experience attrition. To date, work hour amendments have not changed the annual rate of attrition. OBJECTIVE: To determine how often categorical general surgery residents seriously consider leaving residency. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: At 13 residency programs, an anonymous survey of 371 categorical general surgery residents and 10-year attrition rates for each program. Responses from those who seriously considered leaving surgical residency were compared with those who did not. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Factors associated with the desire to leave residency. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 77.6%. Overall, 58.0% seriously considered leaving training. The most frequent reasons for wanting to leave were sleep deprivation on a specific rotation (50.0%), an undesirable future lifestyle (47.0%), and excessive work hours on a specific rotation (41.4%). Factors most often cited that kept residents from leaving were support from family or significant others (65.0%), support from other residents (63.5%), and perception of being better rested (58.9%). On univariate analysis, older age, female sex, postgraduate year, training in a university program, the presence of a faculty mentor, and lack of Alpha Omega Alpha status were associated with serious thoughts of leaving surgical residency. On multivariate analysis, only female sex was significantly associated with serious thoughts of leaving residency (odds ratio, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3; P = .003). Eighty-six respondents were from historically high-attrition programs, and 202 respondents were from historically low-attrition programs (27.8% vs 8.4% 10-year attrition rate, P = .04). Residents from high-attrition programs were more likely to seriously consider leaving residency (odds ratio, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.0-3.0; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: A majority of categorical general surgery residents seriously consider leaving residency. Female residents are more likely to consider leaving. Thoughts of leaving seem to be associated with work conditions on specific rotations rather than with overall work hours and are more prevalent among programs with historically high attrition rates.
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