Current surgery
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Biography Historical Article
Rembrandt's anatomy lesson as a metaphor for education.
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The number of applicants to general surgery programs has recently declined. We set out to determine factors that influence career choice among medical students. ⋯ Prestige and career opportunities are more important to students seeking surgical residencies. Concerns about lifestyle and work hours during residency and perceived quality of patient/physician relationships were deterrents to surgery as a career choice. These issues may need to be addressed to increase the number of applicants to surgical programs.
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Endoscopic inguinal herniorrhaphy has become an established approach to groin hernia. The use of a totally extraperitoneal (TEP) approach allows a tension-free, preperitoneal approach with potentially less discomfort and morbidity than do classic repairs. Concerns have been raised regarding excessive cost, need for general anesthesia, and an extensive learning curve for surgeon and resident trainee alike. ⋯ The totally extraperitoneal approach is a safe and effective method of inguinal hernia repair. Following a learning curve of 40 patients for the staff surgeon, the recurrence rate has been less than 1%, with surgical trainees safely performing TEP repairs under supervision.
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This study sought to determine the impact of surgical resident elective rotations, termed "audition" electives, upon the selection processes of surgical subspecialty residency positions, and to establish the incidence and character of resident personal contact before selection with the program where they ultimately located in order to appropriately council residents in achieving their educational and professional goals. ⋯ An audition elective does not appear to significantly influence the process of surgical subspecialty resident selection. The findings further validate the fairness of the selection processes.
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PURPOSE:To determine the role, organization, and importance of journal clubs in surgical education. Program directors of all general surgical residencies were asked to respond by mail to a structured survey containing questions about their journal club in the following general categories: Setting, Format, Content, and Purpose. With over 80% of the 278 program directors responding, the typical journal club was found to be one that meets once per month to discuss 3 to 6 articles. ⋯ Although journal clubs are active in over 65% of general surgery residency programs, little data exist on the purposes served by this aspect of resident training. The data provided by program directors in response to this survey will ideally serve as a starting point for discussion of how to maximize the benefits that residents receive from this part of their curriculum. Adoption of more formalized approaches to evaluating outcomes would assist in this process.