The practicing doctor's perspective on the surgical curriculum.

The purpose of this study was to identify deficiencies of surgical clerkship and residency curricula in the training of family physicians. Responses to a survey from 202 practicing family practitioners were analyzed. Orthopedics, otolaryngology, urology, neurosurgery, and cardiovascular surgery were surgical specialty areas where more than 40 percent of the respondents thought they had spent too little time. Learning objectives were either not presented or were used ineffectively, according to the majority of respondents. Fifty percent believed that indicating a career interest in family medicine resulted in a negative bias toward them during the surgery clerkship. Over 45 percent thought they were moderately or totally unprepared at the completion of their training to perform several basic surgical procedures. The results of this survey indicate the need for an increased allocation of curricular time to several surgical specialties and an augmented emphasis on outpatient experiences within the surgical curriculum.