Abstract
Background: The transition from surgical residency to independent practice is a challenging period that has not been well studied. Methods: An email invitation to complete a 55-item survey and the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) was sent to early career general surgeons across Canada. The chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was used to compare demographic and survey characteristics with burnout. Multivariable logistic regression was performed. Results: Of the 586 surgeons contacted, 88 responded (15%); 51/88 surgeons (58.0%) were classified as burnt out according to the MBI-HSS. Most surgeons (68.2%) were not confident in their abilities to handle the business aspect of practice. The majority (60.2%) believed that a transition to independent practice program would be beneficial to recent surgical graduates. Conclusions: Our data showed high prevalence of burnout among recently graduated general surgeons across Canada. Further, respondents were not confident in their managerial and administrative skills required to run a successful independent practice.
Highlights
Within North America, medical trainees must successfully complete a residency program and in some cases, pursue fellowship training before they can start practicing as an attending staff in independent practice.[1]
Of the remaining 586, 88 participants responded to the survey (15.0%) with a 98% completion rate; 44 (50%) responses were from men, 43 (48.9%) from women, and 1 participant (1.1%) chose not to disclose their sex
The majority of surgeons (80/88—92.0%) felt that the operating skills they gained during their residency training were sufficient and appropriate for independent practice
Summary
Within North America, medical trainees must successfully complete a residency program and in some cases, pursue fellowship training before they can start practicing as an attending staff in independent practice.[1]. The issues affecting recent graduates during this stressful transition period have been sparsely covered in the literature, and none of the published studies resulted in an empirically founded conceptual framework.[4,5,6,7,8,9,10] The American College of Surgeons has recognized this and focused efforts toward creating transition to practice programs to better equip residents for a smoother transition.[11]. Methods: An email invitation to complete a 55-item survey and the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) was sent to early career general surgeons across Canada. The majority (60.2%) believed that a transition to independent practice program would be beneficial to recent surgical graduates. Conclusions: Our data showed high prevalence of burnout among recently graduated general surgeons across Canada. Respondents were not confident in their managerial and administrative skills required to run a successful independent practice
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