Trends in Comprehensive Thoracic Case Experience Among General Surgery Residents in the Modern Integrated Cardiothoracic Residency Era: Review of Twenty Years of Resident Case Logs.

Background: Thoracic surgery training among general surgery residents in the United States is regulated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to ensure exposure to subspecialty fields during residency. Thoracic surgery training has changed over time with the placement of work hour restrictions, the emphasis on minimally invasive surgery, and increased subspecialization of training like integrated six-year cardiothoracic surgery programs. We aim to investigate how these changes over the past twenty years have affected thoracic surgery training among general surgery residents.