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The surgeon's perspective: promoting and discouraging factors for choosing a career in surgery as perceived by surgeons.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify the factors perceived by surgeons that promote surgery as an attractive or unattractive career choice for today's graduates. In addition, it examined whether the perspectives of surgeons in different professional situations converges. The content of work, contextual work conditions, and calling to this job are discussed in the context of choosing surgery as a career. METHODS: Eight hundred sixty-nine surgeons were asked to answer open-ended questions regarding the factors that promote surgery as an attractive or unattractive career choice for today's graduates. Four hundred ninety-two surgeons participated, and 1,525 statements were analyzed using Mayring's content-analyses method. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the differences among hierarchical positions. RESULTS: With respect to the factors that promote surgery as a profession, 40.8% (209/492) of the surgeons stated that surgery is a calling, 29.1% (149/492) of the surgeons provided at least one argument related to the positive task characteristics, and 12.9% (66/492) of the surgeons provided statements related to the positive contextual factors. With respect to the factors that discourage surgery as a profession, 45.7% (234/492) of the surgeons provided at least one argument related to the discouraging work characteristics, and 67.6% (346/492) of the surgeons provided problematic contextual characteristics. CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the importance of the calling to surgery as an important factor for choosing surgery as a career. However, the extensive workload, training, and poor work-family balance have been identified as factors that discourage graduates from choosing surgery as a career. The identified positive factors could be used to attract and maintain graduates in surgical disciplines.

SUBMITTER: Seelandt JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4099181 | biostudies-other | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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The surgeon's perspective: promoting and discouraging factors for choosing a career in surgery as perceived by surgeons.

Seelandt Julia C JC Kaderli Reto M RM Tschan Franziska F Businger Adrian P AP

PloS one 20140715 7

<h4>Background</h4>The aim of this study was to identify the factors perceived by surgeons that promote surgery as an attractive or unattractive career choice for today's graduates. In addition, it examined whether the perspectives of surgeons in different professional situations converges. The content of work, contextual work conditions, and calling to this job are discussed in the context of choosing surgery as a career.<h4>Methods</h4>Eight hundred sixty-nine surgeons were asked to answer ope ...[more]

PMID: 25025428

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Fewer residents are choosing general internal medicine (GIM) careers, and their choice 5 be influenced by the continuity clinic experience during residency. We sought to explore the relationship between resident satisfaction with the continuity clinic experience and expressed interest in pursuing a GIM career. METHODS: We surveyed internal medicine residents by using the Veterans Health Administration Office of Academic Affiliations Learners' Perceptions Survey-a 76-item instrument with established reliability and validity that measures satisfaction with faculty interactions, and learning, working, clinical, and physical environments, and personal experience. We identified 15 reliable subscales within the survey and asked participants whether their experience would prompt them to consider future employment opportunities in GIM. We examined the association between satisfaction measures and future GIM interest with 1-way analyses of variance followed by Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc tests. RESULTS: Of 217 residents, 90 (41%) completed the survey. Residents felt continuity clinic influenced career choice, with 22% more likely to choose a GIM career and 43% less likely. Those more likely to choose a GIM career had higher satisfaction with the learning (P = .001) and clinical (P = .002) environments and personal experience (P < .001). They also had higher satisfaction with learning processes (P = .002), patient diversity (P < .001), coordination of care (P = .009), workflow (P = .001), professional/personal satisfaction (P < .001), and work/life balance (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The continuity clinic experience 5 influence residents' GIM career choice. Residents who indicate they are more likely to pursue GIM based on that clinical experience have higher levels of satisfaction. Further prospective data are needed to assess if changes in continuity clinic toward these particular factors can enhance career choice.

Project description:In cardiovascular surgery, reconstruction and replacement of cardiac and vascular structures are routinely performed. Prosthetic or biological materials traditionally used for this purpose cannot be considered ideal substitutes as they have limited durability and no growth or regeneration potential. Tissue engineering aims to create materials having normal tissue function including capacity for growth and self-repair. These advanced materials can potentially overcome the shortcomings of conventionally used materials, and, if successfully passing all phases of product development, they might provide a better option for both the pediatric and adult patient population requiring cardiovascular interventions. This short review article overviews the most important cardiovascular pathologies where tissue engineered materials could be used, briefly summarizes the main directions of development of these materials, and discusses the hurdles in their clinical translation. At its beginnings in the 1980s, tissue engineering (TE) was defined as "an interdisciplinary field that applies the principles of engineering and the life sciences toward the development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function" (1). Currently, the utility of TE products and materials are being investigated in several fields of human medicine, ranging from orthopedics to cardiovascular surgery (2-5). In cardiovascular surgery, reconstruction and replacement of cardiac and vascular structures are routinely performed. Considering the shortcomings of traditionally used materials, the need for advanced materials that can "restore, maintain or improve tissue function" are evident. Tissue engineered substitutes, having growth and regenerative capacity, could fundamentally change the specialty (6). This article overviews the most important cardiovascular pathologies where TE materials could be used, briefly summarizes the main directions of development of TE materials along with their advantages and shortcomings, and discusses the hurdles in their clinical translation.

Project description:ImportanceBurnout among US surgeons is alarmingly high, particularly among women, and work-life integration conflicts contribute to career dissatisfaction.ObjectiveTo evaluate associations between surgical career satisfaction and personal life factors such as time requirements for outside interests, household chores, and parenting responsibilities and to explore similarities and differences between men and women.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional survey study of practicing US surgeons was conducted between June 4 and August 1, 2018. The 257-item online survey was sent to 25 748 fellows of the American College of Surgeons. A 31-item subanalysis was performed from August 13 to November 4, 2019.Main outcomes and measuresDegree of career satisfaction was measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Professional and personal life factors associated with career satisfaction were evaluated with gender-stratified multivariable proportional odds models.ResultsAmong 3807 respondents, 3166 self-identified as male (83%) and 639 (17%) as female. Fewer women reported career satisfaction (483 [77%] vs 2514 [82%]) and relatively more women reported problematic interruption of personal life owing to work (315 [50%] vs 1381 [45%]). A higher proportion of women reported being primarily responsible for meal preparation (282 [46%] vs 355 [12%]) and housekeeping (149 [24%] vs 161 [5%]). On multivariable analyses, factors independently associated with career satisfaction were generally similar between genders. Stronger collegial support of work-life integration efforts was significantly associated with higher career satisfaction for both genders (P < .001), although the odds ratio (OR) for women was higher than for men (OR, 4.52; 95% CI, 2.60-7.87 vs OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.88-3.21). For men and women, increasing age was significantly associated with higher career satisfaction (men: OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.03-1.05; P < .001; women: OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.06; P = .001), and insufficient time for family owing to work was associated with lower satisfaction (men: OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49-0.90; P = 009; women: OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.30-0.81; P = .006). For women only, there was a significant association between primary responsibility for at least 1 household chore and lower career satisfaction (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.45-0.98; P = .04).Conclusions and relevanceIn this study, although women had relatively lower surgical career satisfaction than men, the associations between career satisfaction and personal life factors were largely similar. Collegial support of work-life integration efforts appeared to be the most influential factor, particularly for women. Optimization of work-life integration may not only decrease physician burnout but also promote gender equity in surgery.

Dataset Information

The surgeon's perspective: promoting and discouraging factors for choosing a career in surgery as perceived by surgeons.

Publications

The surgeon's perspective: promoting and discouraging factors for choosing a career in surgery as perceived by surgeons.

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