WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF SURGICAL TRAINING - A REPORT OF AMERICA LEADING SENIOR SURGEONS

Objectives: To characterize the career choices and developments made b y leading senior surgeons in this country and to examine hypotheticall y whether application of a short tracking program would have hindered their career decisions. Design: A survey pertaining to each surgeon's career, decisions, and opinions concerning surgical training. Setting and Participants: Senior surgeons of regional and national surgical so cieties. Main Outcome Measure: Survey responses. Results: A total of 3 52 surveys (41.4%) were received. Respondents answered that the most c ommon reasons for choosing a specialty were role models or mentors (56 %), research (51%), and available patient population (23%). The 2 most common stages in a career at which the respondents became interested in a specialty, or an area of expertise, were at the junior residency level (when the specialty was chosen) and at the assistant professor l evel (when a more specific topic within the specialty was chosen). The most common stage at which the group believed they acquired their exp ertise was also at the assistant professor level. Seventy-one percent of respondents believed broad training was superior to a short trackin g system, although none had participated in shortened surgical trainin g. Conclusions: Most leading senior surgeons in this country still bel ieve that broad surgical training is superior and should be maintained . Because career specialties in this surveyed group were generally cho sen in early residency, a hypothetical application of the short tracki ng system would have still allowed for these important decisions to be made. Also, it seems likely that specialty and career development wou ld not have been hindered because ''expertization'' mostly occurred af ter training was completed. Regardless of training method, a role mode l or mentor seems most important in career choices and developments.