Are graduating surgical residents confident in performing open vascular surgery? Results of a national survey.

Introduction: General surgical training has changed significantly over the past decade with work-hour restrictions, increasing use of minimally invasive techniques, and increasing specialization, leading to decreased resident exposure to open operative techniques. Furthermore, the presence of vascular surgery fellows and the advent of dedicated vascular surgery residencies have had the potential to diminish further the vascular surgery experience of general surgery residents. Given these changes, this study was undertaken to assess the confidence of graduating general surgery residents in performing certain key open vascular maneuvers, approaches that might be required in a general surgery practice, and to determine factors associated with variations in reported confidence.

Methods: A survey was developed and sent to graduating chief surgical residents nationally. We queried them regarding demographics and program characteristics and asked them to rate their confidence (rated 1-5 on a Likert scale) in performing a vascular anastomosis and 4 specific vascular control maneuvers. We then compared those who indicated confidence with those who did not.

Results: We received 653 responses from fifth-year (postgraduate year 5) surgical residents: 69% men, 67.5% from university programs, and 51% from programs affiliated with a Veterans Affairs hospital; additionally, 22% were from small programs, 34% from medium programs, and 44% from large programs. Although 70% of respondents indicated confidence performing a vascular anastomosis, less than 25% indicated confidence performing each of the 4 specified vascular maneuvers. Age, program size, future fellowship plans, surgical volume, estimated percentage of cases performed laparoscopically, and geographic location were all associated with variations in reported confidence.

Conclusions: Graduating general surgical residents indicated a significant lack of confidence in performing specific open vascular surgical maneuvers. This decreased confidence varied regionally and was associated with both demographic and program-specific factors.