The workday of hospital surgeons: what they do, what makes them satisfied, and the role of core tasks and administrative tasks; a diary study.

Background: Many surgeons report passion for their work, but not all tasks are likely to be satisfying. Little is known about how hospital surgeons spend their days, how they like specific tasks, and the role of core tasks (i.e.

Mentoring in general surgery in Switzerland.

Background: Mentorship has been found as a key factor for a successful and satisfying career in academic medicine and surgery. The present study was conducted to describe the current situation of mentoring in the surgical community in Switzerland and to evaluate sex differences regarding the impact of mentoring on career success and professional satisfaction.

Methods: The study was designed as an anonymous national survey to all members of the Swiss Surgical Society in 2011 (820 ordinary and 49 junior members).

Different views about work-hour limitations in medicine: a qualitative content analysis of surgeons', lawyers', and pilots' positive and negative arguments.

Background: Whereas work-hour regulations have been taken for granted since 1940 in other occupational settings, such as commercial aviation, they have been implemented only recently in medical professions, where they lead to a lively debate. The aim of the present study was to evaluate arguments in favour of and against work-hour limitations in medicine given by Swiss surgeons, lawyers, and pilots.

Methods: An electronic questionnaire survey with four free-response items addressing the question of what arguments speak in favour of or against work-hour limitations in general and in medicine was sent to a random sample of board-certified surgeons, lawyers in labour law, and pilots from SWISS International Airlines Ltd.

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

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.

Reasons for the persistence of adverse events in the era of safer surgery--a qualitative approach.

Objective: We sought to evaluate potential reasons given by board-certified doctors for the persistence of adverse events despite efforts to improve patient safety in Switzerland.

Summary Background Data: In recent years, substantial efforts have been made to improve patient safety by introducing surgical safety checklists to standardise surgeries and team procedures. Still, a high number of adverse events remain.

Temporal factors in violence related injuries--An 11 year trend analysis of violence-related injuries from a Swiss Emergency Department.

Background: Injury from interpersonal violence is a major social and medical problem in the industrialized world. Little is known about the trends in prevalence and injury pattern or about the demographic characteristics of the patients involved.

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we screened the database of the Emergency Department of a large university hospital for all patients who were admitted for injuries due to interpersonal violence over an 11 year period.

Cranio-maxillofacial injuries in victims of interpersonal violence.

Background: Recent research has indicated an increase in the severity of head injuries in Switzerland. The aim of the present study was to describe the epidemiological features of cranio-maxillofacial (CMF) injuries due to interpersonal violence in patients at the Bern University Hospital Emergency Department (ED), based on injury patterns.

Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on data collected during an 11-year period between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2010 covering 1,585 patients.

Resident work hour restrictions do not improve patient safety in surgery: a critical appraisal based on 7 years of experience in Switzerland.

In 2005 the Swiss government implemented new work-hour limitations for all residency programs in Switzerland, including a 50-hour weekly limit. The reduction in the working hours of doctors in training implicate an increase in their rest time and suggest an amelioration of doctors' clinical performance and consequently in patients' outcomes and safety - which was not detectable in a preliminary study at a large referral center in Switzerland. It remains elusive why work-hour restrictions did not improve patient safety.

Why do walk-in patients prefer a busy urban emergency department during office hours? A pilot survey of 200 consecutive patients from Switzerland.

Principles: In Switzerland, more and more patients go directly to the emergency department, bypassing general practitioners. However, a mixture of non-urgent walk-in patients and acute emergencies in the same emergency department can inevitably make it more difficult to provide genuine emergencies with rapid treatment, leading to deterioration in the quality of emergency services, and tending to increase on-floor mortality and morbidity, together with higher overall costs.

Methods: A series of 200 consecutive walk-in patients were interviewed during general practitioners' office hours.

Healthcare quality management in Switzerland--a survey among providers.

Background: In the last decade assessing the quality of healthcare has become increasingly important across the world. Switzerland lacks a detailed overview of how quality management is implemented and of its effects on medical procedures and patients' concerns. This study aimed to examine the systematics of quality management in Switzerland by assessing the providers and collected parameters of current quality initiatives.

Perception of semiquantitative terms in surgery.

Objective: To assess whether semiquantitative terms (eg, "often" or "rare"), which are often used for achieving informed consent, have the same meaning for laypersons and physicians.

Background: To obtain informed consent, physicians have to make their patients aware of the risks of an operation. Thereby, semiquantitative terms are often used.

Interest in a national research network in surgery in Switzerland.

Background: Networks are known to improve performance and create synergies. A research network can provide a significant advantage for all parties involved in research in surgery by systematically tracking the outcome of a huge number of patients over a long period of time. The aim of the present study was to investigate the experiences of surgeons with respect to research activities, to evaluate the opinions of surgeons with regard to the development of a national network for research in the field of surgery in Switzerland and to obtain data on how such a network should be designed.

Burnout in ICU caregivers: a multicenter study of factors associated to centers.

Rationale: The stressful work environment of ICUs can lead to burnout. Burnout can impact on the welfare and performance of caregivers, and may lead them to resign their job. The shortage of ICU caregivers is becoming a real threat for health care leaders.

Female surgeons' mentoring experiences and success in an academic career in Switzerland.

Principles: An increasing proportion of women are working in medicine, although only very few choose surgical specialties and the interest in an academic pursuit is generally smaller among women compared to their male colleagues. The aim of the present study was to analyse factors critical for a successful academic career for female surgeons in Switzerland and to assess the value of mentor-mentee relationships in this context.

Methods: An anonymous national survey among board-certified female surgeons and female residents was conducted in Switzerland during spring 2008.

Referral practice among Swiss and non-Swiss walk-in patients in an urban surgical emergency department.

Aim: To assess the relationship between nationality, gender and age and use of health services among patients visiting an urban university hospital emergency department (ED).

Introduction: ED crowding is an increasingly significant national and international problem. Overcrowding has many potential detrimental effects, including frustration for patients and ED personnel and greater risk of poor outcomes.

Women in surgery: a survey in Switzerland.

An increasing proportion of women work in medicine; however, only few choose surgical specialties. The objective of this study was to analyze the current situation of female surgeons and surgical residents in Switzerland concerning their personal and professional fulfillment. Of 318 female surgeons and surgical residents included in our study, 189 (59.

Mechanical bowel preparation and antimicrobial prophylaxis in elective colorectal surgery in Switzerland--a survey.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the use of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) and antimicrobial prophylaxis in elective colorectal surgery in Switzerland.

Methods: Ninety-eight heads of surgical departments in Switzerland and 42 visceral surgeons in private practice were asked to answer an 18-item questionnaire in October 2008 about arguments in favor of or against MBP. The participants also indicated whether they use MBP and antimicrobial prophylaxis in colorectal surgery, and if so, what agents were used.

Prevalence of burnout among surgical residents and surgeons in Switzerland.

Burnout is a pathologic reaction in response to long-term work-related stress. The aim of this study was 2-fold: first, to assess the prevalence and degree of burnout among surgical residents and surgeons in Switzerland and, second, to identify predictors of burnout in the surgical community. Four hundred five of 618 anonymous questionnaires (65.

Arguments for and against a career in surgery: a qualitative analysis.

Objective: To evaluate arguments given by board-certified surgeons in Switzerland for and against a career in surgery.

Background Data: Currently, the surgical profession in most Western countries is experiencing a labor shortage because of a declining interest in a surgical career among new graduates, a changed public opinion of medicine and its representatives, and as a consequence of the increasing influence of health economists and politicians on the professional independence of surgeons. Reports that focus primarily on the reasons that board-certified surgeons remain within the surgical profession are rare.

Effect of the 50-hour workweek limitation on training of surgical residents in Switzerland.

Hypothesis: The 50-hour workweek limitation for surgical residents in Switzerland has a major effect on surgical training, resident quality of life, and patient care.

Design: Survey study.

Setting: Residencies in Switzerland.

Students' knowledge of symptoms and risk factors of potential life-threatening medical conditions.

Aim: In order to assess medical students' knowledge of Basic Life Support (BLS) principles, we defined a minimal knowledge (MK) of three life-threatening medical conditions that should be universally known: cardiac arrest, heart attack and stroke, and compared the results with those of laypersons.

Methods: Before participating in a BLS course, 406 medical students and 101 laypersons completed an MK questionnaire. Additional data were collected on participants' gender, age, education, medical education, personal experience with the condition and successful completion of a BLS course.

On-table reconstruction of comminuted fractures of the radial head.

The most widely accepted treatment for comminuted fractures of the radial head is either the excision or open reduction and internal fixation. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the value of an 'on-table' reconstruction technique in severely comminuted fractures of the radial head. In this study, two patients with a Mason type-III and four patients with a Mason type-IV radial-head fracture were treated with 'on-table' reconstruction and fixation using low-profile mini-plates.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the kidney in an adult: a case report.

Introduction: Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) occur predominantly in childhood preferentially in the soft tissues of the lower extremity and the paraspinal region. We present here a rare case of a PNET of the kidney in an adult.

Case Presentation: A tumor adjacent to the right kidney was detected by ultrasound coincidentally at a routine check-up in a 46-year-old woman with irritable bowel syndrome in her medical history.

A ciliated cyst in the posterior mediastinum compatible with a paravertebral Mullerian cyst.

Several types of cysts in the mediastinum have been described, such as bronchogenic or thymic cysts and esophageal duplications, most of which arise in the middle or posterior mediastinum close to the tracheobronchial system or the esophagus. We present herein the rare case of a ciliated cyst anatomically distant to the genitourinary organs. An abnormal formation in the posterior mediastinum was incidentally detected on chest X-ray during the preoperative evaluation for a herniorrhaphy in a 54-year-old woman who had a negative medical history.

Dorsal Double-Plate Fixation of the Distal Radius.

Objective: Restoration of the intra- and extraarticular anatomy of the distal radius. Stable internal fixation of fragments, with the possibility of early functional rehabilitation.

Indications: Distal intraarticular radius fractures with impacted articular fragments and displaced dorsoulnar fragment.