SURGICAL RESIDENTS IN THE 1990S - ISSUES AND CONCERNS FOR MEN AND WOMEN

Objective: To survey the concerns of surgical residents in New England and to determine whether similarities or differences exist based on g ender. Design/Setting: A survey was distributed to all 21 surgical res idency programs. The sun ey consisted of six demographic questions and 23 items, which the residents coded on a Likert-type scale. Participa nts: Surgical residents enrolled in a general surgical residency or sp ecialty residents completing general surgery requirements. Interventio n: Distribution and completion of the survey. Main Outcome Measure: Pr ominent concerns among residents during training years and gender diff erences based on these concerns. Results: All programs responded. A co mpleted survey was returned by 501 residents (73%), 378 (75%) of whom were male and 123 (25%) of whom were female. On a scale of I to 5 (fro m no concern to major concern), the five most important issues were wo rk hours (mean, 3.4), personal finances (mean, 3.1), quantity and qual ity of formal education (mean, 3.0 each), and postponement of family p lans (mean, 2.9). Six items surveyed were of more concern to women tha n men: availability of role models, mentors, or both; comfort in expre ssing emotions at work; initiating and maintaining personal relationsh ips; having children during residency, and postponing family plans. Co nclusions: Three of the highest-reported concerns for the entire group are issues that could conceivably be controlled by surgical chairpers ons and program directors. In contrast, only one of the six concerns t hat differed for men and women is directly program related. The remain ing five issues require changes in societal values for these differenc es to dissolve.