Introduction
In July 2003, an 80-h work wk was initiated for residents across the United States,
with the potential benefit of improving resident quality of life. Using a survey of
medical students, we evaluated whether this change increased medical students’ interest
in pursuing a career in surgery.
Methods
Surveys were administered to 505 medical students prior to and after completing their
surgical clerkship at a university-based medical school. Results were then analyzed
with significance determined as a P ≤ 0.05.
Results
Overall, 55 (10.9%) medical students stated they anticipated pursuing a surgical career
prior to starting their clerkship. There was no difference in the pre-rotation interest
in a surgical career from before to after introduction of the 80-h work wk (8.3% versus 12.6%, P = 0.14). Men were also more likely than women to report a pre-rotation interest in
surgery (16.9% versus 6.1%, P < 0.001). The most important factor influencing a student’s post-clerkship interest
in pursuing a career in surgery was a pre-rotation interest.
Conclusion
These data indicate that the 80-h work wk has not improved medical students’ or females’
interests in surgery. Since the strongest predictor of pursuing a career in surgery
is a pre-rotation interest, we need to continue efforts to appeal to medical students
earlier in their education and improve upon their perceptions of surgery.
Key Words
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References
- Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.(Available at:) (Accessed July 2009)
- Impact of mandatory resident work hour limitations on medical students’ interest in surgery.J Am Coll Surg. 2004; 199: 615
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 03, 2010
Received:
March 10,
2010
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
