Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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On July 1, 2003, residency training programs were required to institute restricted duty hours as mandated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. A major concern,voiced by both surgical residents and faculty, was an expectation that this would result in a decrease in operative experience. We hypothesized that implementing restricted duty hours would decrease case coverage by resident trainees. ⋯ Restricted duty hours have not affected resident case coverage.
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Because individuals age cognitively at different rates, there is considerable interest in ways to assure that older surgeons have the physical and mental stamina, coordination, reaction time, and judgment to provide appropriate care. To clarify potential relationships between cognitive changes related to aging, the decision to retire, and changes in patterns of surgical practice, this study aimed to identify specific parameters of cognitive change among senior surgeons. ⋯ These results suggest that although self-perceived cognitive changes play a role in the decision to retire, they are not related to objective measures of cognitive change, and are not reliable in the decision to retire. The development of readily accessible measures of cognitive changes related to aging may serve to assist decisions either to continue surgical practice or to retire.