Protecting patients while advancing education

摘要

Each year on July 1, more than 1,100 general surgery residents complete their training and as a result, become eligible to operate without supervision. This abrupt change in responsibility should not be interpreted as the end of their education. Their clinical and operative skills will most certainly improve as they gain experience. Providing residents with sufficient opportunities and experience so that they can autonomously conduct an operation and make tough decisions in the operating room is a challenge central to residency training. Yet it is puzzling that on June 30 and the weeks before, these same residents may only have operated in the presence of an attending surgeon who either performs or directs the case.