Journal of surgical education
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Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in North America and a major contributor to surgically treated diseases and operative complications. Counseling by residents can be an effective means of helping patients to quit smoking, and with the introduction of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and CanMEDS competency frameworks, health promotion is a required component of residency training. However, past studies have found that smoking cessation counseling by residents, and in particular surgical residents, is lacking. In light of the introduction of health promotion as a core competency in residency training, this study was designed to examine the attitudes and practices of residents at our institution regarding smoking cessation counseling, comparing surgical and nonsurgical residents and seeking to identify barriers to resident counseling. ⋯ Residents, and surgical residents in particular, are missing opportunities to help their patients quit smoking and improve their health. Given their positive attitudes toward counseling, it may be possible to improve their counseling practices through simple means. By identifying obstacles to counseling and tools that may increase residents׳ tendency to perform counseling, this study can help to guide training programs aimed at improving resident competency in health promotion.
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To develop operative independence with essential procedures by the end of their training, residents need graded autonomy as they progress through training. This study compares autonomy expectations, as defined by faculty and residents, with autonomy measured in the operating room. ⋯ Surgical faculty and residents had similar expectations for resident operative autonomy, yet actual resident performance failed to achieve those shared expectations for even the most common procedures. This autonomy gap provides more evidence for concerns about the preparedness of graduating residents for independent practice.
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Dismissal from residency is most commonly because of unprofessional conduct rather than cognitive failure. Disciplinary action by medical boards has also been associated with prior unprofessional behavior during medical school. Facebook is a social media network that has become ubiquitous in recent years and has the potential to offer an unvarnished view into the lives of residents using a public forum that is open to the public and program directors alike. The aim of this study was to evaluate the publically available Facebook profiles of surgical residents to determine the incidence and degree of unprofessional conduct. ⋯ Unprofessional behavior is prevalent among surgical residents who use Facebook, and this behavior does not appear to decrease as residents progress through training. This represents a risk to the reputations of hospitals and residency programs, and residents should be educated on the dangers of social media. Although it may be perceived as an invasion of privacy, this information is publically available, and program directors may benefit from monitoring these sites to identify gaps in professionalism that require correction.
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The American Board of Surgery In-Training Exam (ABSITE) is administered to all general surgery residents annually. Given the recent changes in the format of the examination and in the material being tested, it has become increasingly difficult for residents to prepare for the ABSITE. This is especially true for incoming postgraduate year (PGY) 1 residents because of the respective variability of the surgical clerkship experience. There have been many studies in the past that support the use of weekly assigned readings and examinations to improve ABSITE scores. Other studies have investigated the study habits of residents to determine those that would correlate with higher ABSITE scores. However, there is a lack of information on whether completing review questions plays an integral role in preparing for the ABSITE. We hypothesize that those residents who completed more review questions performed better on the ABSITE. ⋯ Recent changes in the format of the ABSITE to a 2-tiered examination in 2006 and subsequent plan to return to a unified test for all PGY levels has made preparation difficult. With a more focused, question-based approach to studying, residents may see a demonstrable improvement in their scores. Our study supports this hypothesis-showing that residents who complete more review questions had higher ABSITE percentile scores. In the past, it has been demonstrated that strong ABSITE scores are associated with higher written board scores. With the widespread adoption of the Surgical Council on Resident Education curriculum, we postulate that residency programs that rely on this review question-based curriculum will report improved ABSITE percentile scores and written board pass rates.
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The spectrum of the surgeon-scientist ranges from a clinician who participates in the occasional research collaboration to the predominantly academic scientist with no involvement in clinical work. Training surgeon-scientists can involve resource-intense and lengthy training programs, including Masters and PhD degrees. Despite high enrollment rates in such programs, limited data exist regarding their outcome. The aim of the study was to investigate the scientific productivity of general surgeons who completed Masters or PhD graduate training compared with those who completed clinical residency training only. ⋯ The volume and impact of research publication of PhD-trained surgeon-scientists are significantly higher than those having clinical-only and Masters training. The additional 1 or 2 years of training to obtain a PhD over a Masters degree significantly nurtures trainees to hone research skills within a supervised environment and should be encouraged for research-inclined residents.