American journal of surgery
-
Comparative Study
An international perspective on interest in a general surgery career among final-year medical students.
The level of interest in general surgery among US seniors has been declining; however, it may be perceived as a more attractive career outside the United States. ⋯ Our study suggested the level of interest for general surgery may depend on the sex and the location of the student. Further comparison studies may suggest means to stimulate student interest in the field.
-
The goal of simulation-based medical education and training is to help trainees acquire and refine the technical and cognitive skills necessary to perform clinical procedures. When designers incorporate simulation into programs, their efforts should be in line with training needs, rather than technology. ⋯ These problems include the lack of (1) an objective identification of training needs, (2) a systematic design methodology to match training objectives with simulation resources, (3) structured assessments of performance, and (4) a research-centered view to evaluate and validate systematically the educational effectiveness of the program. In this report, we present a process called "Aim - FineTune - FollowThrough" to enable the connection of the identified problems to solutions, using frameworks from psychology, motor learning, education and experimental design.
-
Orthopedic surgery is a specialty of surgery dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system in all age groups. Careers in orthopedic surgery span the spectrum from general orthopedics to those of subspecialty expertise in orthopedic trauma, hand, pediatrics, total joint, foot and ankle, sports medicine, and oncology to name a few.
-
Colon preparation for elective colon resection to reduce surgical site infection (SSI) remains controversial. ⋯ Mechanical bowel preparation alone does not reduce rates of SSI, but oral antibiotic preparation and systemic preoperative antibiotics are superior when compared with systemic antibiotics alone. Additional clinical trials are necessary to define the best combined overall mechanical and oral antibiotic regimen for elective colon surgery.
-
Multicenter Study
Local variations in the epidemiology, microbiology, and outcome of necrotizing soft-tissue infections: a multicenter study.
Necrotizing soft-tissue infections (NSTIs) are rare and highly lethal. ⋯ Significant center differences occur in patient populations, etiology, and microbiology of NSTIs, even within a concentrated region. Management should be based on these characteristics given that adjunctive treatments are unproven and variations in outcome are likely because of patient disease at presentation.